Offline 23 hours a day

Last month, I moved into my new home in the woods. There’s no internet and no phone service here. It’s so productive.

At first I thought I couldn’t move in without internet. But now I prefer it this way.

Media silence creates a vacuum, which your own thoughts expand to fill.

I notice it most at the start of the day. No news. No texts. I have no idea what’s going on out there, so I develop what’s going on in here. My writing, coding, and learning fills the time and space.

My thoughts feel more independent. I explore my own ideas deeper before looking for other perspectives.

Problems I used to punt, I now solve on my own. It’s voluntary, like weightlifting. My brain feels stronger because I work through the problem instead of prompting it away.

Remember the movie “WALL·E”, where people depended on assistance so much that they couldn’t even walk on their own? I want to be able to solve problems without help, and lift heavy thoughts without needing others’ opinions.

When I’m yearning to search, I ask myself why.

• What answer am I hoping to hear?
• What answer would be a surprise?
• What would I do in each case?

This process feels more useful than a search result.

Every day or two, I bring my laptop into town to get online for an hour. The time limit keeps me super-focused. I know why I’m there. I know what I need. I download emails and upload code. I post my questions to a bunch of AIs, and save the answers to read later.

Limiting online time helps me ignore the hype. Media still screams about what I urgently need to see now, but I don’t. A minute later, I’m offline. I text and call friends, then go home to work.

Not so long ago, this was the norm. You’d go online to get what you need, then disconnect.

Some day soon they’ll connect the fast fiber here to my home in the woods. So I’m posting this for my future self, to remember how peaceful and productive it is to block the inputs, and make a vacuum to expand my output.