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Spending too much time on the internet? How about a change?

Wasting time on the internet

A poll of over 3000 people on TechCrunch revealed that on average people waste (in their own words) between one and five hours per day on the internet. Only 8% of the participants claimed that they wasted less than an hour on the internet per day and 14% of the participants claimed to waste all their free time by spending over ten hours on the internet daily.

Although it’s hard to determine how accurate the statistics are (as obviously people who fill out online polls are more likely to spend more time on the internet), it’s safe to assume that your average person spends a good few hours a week on social networking sites, searching for products online, reading news and playing games. While not all these internet activities can be called completely wasteful – after all keeping touch with friends and reading news is a part of life and good for the brain – people do end up with less time to enjoy ‘the good life’.

The good life

The good life is a philosophical term coined many years ago by Aristotle to mean ‘a simpler existence’ and to refer to a life that you would ideally like to live. Often people talk about living healthier lives, spending more time with their families and getting outdoors more often, but how many of us really follow through on our hollow wishes? ‘I simply don’t have time’ is a common excuse in the modern world where every second is accounted for with long working hours, traffic jams, busy supermarkets and, yes, the internet.

While the internet is undeniable a part of life, you can easily stop wasting so much time on it and rather spend that time doing something more meaningful. Assuming you can reduce your internet time by two hours per day, here are some suggestions of healthy activities you can spend that time on.

Walking the dog/Playing with your cat: 30 minutes

Pets have been said to reduce their owner’s blood pressure in numerous studies and yet their existence is often overlooked. Unless your pet is a blood thirsty mongrel, the time you spend giving your pets attention is completely and blissfully stress-free. Walk past a local pond and lob a stick a few times, or grab a piece of string and play with your kitten and then take a mental note of how you feel afterward. Online activities are often an outlet for boredom and frustration and yet time with a pet can have a significantly more positive effect on unpleasant emotions that the internet.

Quality time with your partner or children: At least 45 minutes

Instead of spending your entire evening on the internet and then ordering take out, try cooking a healthy meal with your partner (after you’ve walked the dog of course). You’ll find yourself chatting about the day and unwinding with a glass of wine while you slice and dice. Alternatively, sit down with your children and help them with their homework or teach them how to do something creative like making stained glass. Your family’s gratitude at the voluntary attention will be reward enough. After all, it’s not the internet you’re going to want to remember on your death bed, is it?

Time for yourself: 45 minutes

Many people spend time on the internet as a way to entertain themselves and so it has become a crutch. Leave us alone with a lifeless computer and we’ve forgotten how we used to spend our free time in the ‘good ol’ days’. Take a class/read a book/take a long hot bath/write in your dog-eared diary. Whatever gives you some breathing space and enables you to forget about the day’s worries, that’s what you need to spend the last 45 minutes of your day on instead of more time on the internet.

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