I first took an extended web sabbatical from December 1, 2007 till January 24, 2008. Since then I have tried to log off for a month every year. More about my web sabbaticals can be found in Icelandic under sabbatical on this web and in a short article on tru.is.
This time I plan to take my yearly web sabbatical during lent. I will log off on March 5th and log on again on April 21st.
I am a very active internet user, and I use the web to stay in contact with people on two continents and work on various tasks, that cannot [easily] be done without an internet connection. Therefore the decision to go on web sabbatical, does not mean that I will stay away from computers all together, but that I will purposefully reduce my computer usage and limit it to things that are essential.
In the past I have made a list of things I will continue to do during my web sabbatical, mostly connected to work and/our my studies. As I am at the moment a homemaker, the list will obviously be a lot shorter this time around.
- My family uses iCal and Google Calendar for time management and Wunderlist for to-do lists. I will continue to use those during the web sabbatical.
- My family uses Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Prime, ESPN360, and iTunes for TV watching. I am only going to watch TV with the family during the web sabbatical, not on my own.
- I will use Skype to stay in contact with my family in Iceland and I will read my e-mails on a regular basis. I will also have to use Facebook Messenger as it is the preferred way of communicating by many of the people I work with.
- I will continue to use the web for banking, and to order pizzas (I hate using the phone).
- I will also use a computer to register my kids at a summer camp and in relation to kids school activities.
- I am working on implementing a website for a multi-point parish in Iceland. I will continue that project.
- I am not going to use any social media, such as Youtube, Facebook (with the exception of Facebook Messenger for work), LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, or Instagram during my web sabbatical.
- I will not play any computer games, either on a Wii, iPad, iPhone, or the computer.
- I am not going to read blogs and/or news articles. I will not use my rss-feeder, I will not write blogs, comments, or answer comments on my blog during this time.
I will start my web sabbatical on March 5th at 6pm EST, and conclude it Monday morning, April 21st at 6am EST.
Evaluation of my web sabbatical:
My family uses Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Prime, ESPN360, and iTunes for TV watching. I am only going to watch TV with the family during the web sabbatical, not on my own.
I mostly stood by this, with the exception of watching TV at the gym while doing cardio.
I am not going to use any social media, such as Youtube, Facebook (with the exception of Facebook Messenger for work), LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, or Instagram during my web sabbatical.
I started off well, but as the sabbatical went on I started to check Facebook more frequently, as I used the Messenger to communicate and the temptation to scan what was already open on the computer was great.
I will not play any computer games, either on a Wii, iPad, iPhone, or the computer.
I learned that I am addicted to doing Sudoko on the iPad, and during the web sabbatical my daughter introduced my to 2048. I reduced playing time during the sabbatical but still played Sudoko from time to time and started playing 2048.
I am not going to read blogs and/or news articles. I will not use my rss-feeder, I will not write blogs, comments, or answer comments on my blog during this time.
I did not write anything publicly except work related things. So, no FB-statuses, no blogs, no comments. I didn’t follow my regular news source but as the web sabbatical went on I started to look at Icelandic news outlets to scan the headlines, maybe every other day, which is far less than then I usually do.
Conclusion:
I did well in reducing my screen time during the web sabbatical. Especially during the first two weeks. However, I was not the purist I might have hoped to become during it, but that is okay, grace abounds.