All right, I know this is a weird challenge to post on an internet forum, but so it goes.
I'm planning to go internet-free (see rules & restrictions below) for the month of October, which, since I get all my TV via Hulu and Netflix, means going TV-free as well. I feel like I've been spending a lot of wasted hours on internet/TV lately, time where I only moderately enjoy myself and do it more because it's the easy/default thing to do than because it's actually what I'd most want to be doing with my time. In the meantime, I've just moved into a new place/new city where I still have a lot of lingering moving-related things to take care of, and I'm about to start a new job, so I figure I'll have tons to do that could benefit from all the extra hours I'll have when I give up TV/internet, and maybe I'll even have the time to really think more critically about what I'd most enjoy doing with my free time, rather than just doing the easiest thing.
So, as a knowledge-worker in the 21st century, many parts of my job require using the internet, so I can't actually give it up entirely, plus there are certain ways I use it that I don't think are problematic and don't want to give up as part of the challenge. Therefore, I'm setting out some ground rules below. These are the rules that work for me, but anyone else who would like to join me for this internet-fast (internet-diet?) can of course use any modification that seems appropriate for them.
1) E-mail is allowed (but gchat is not)
2) I can use the internet as needed for work
3) I can use the internet as needed for utilitarian purposes (can use google maps to look up how to get somewhere, can use craigslist to buy/sell things, can use budgetbytes to look up a recipe)
4) I can use the internet if it is part of a social activity (my fiance and I can watch that last episode of Sherlock together, if I'm hanging out with a friend and they want to show me a hilarious video they saw on youtube I can watch it)
5) Likewise, I can read an article if someone specifically e-mails it to me
What I cannot do:
1) Absolutely no Facebook. I trust my fiance will handle any social invitations we get via the site during the month.
2) No Netflix/Hulu, unless it's part of a social activity.
3) No blogs, forums, news sites, or other sources of things to watch/read for entertainment/information. This includes MMM. (again, with the caveat that I can read something someone specifically sends to me personally because they think I'd find it interesting)
4) No internet games.
Let me know if you'd like to join me in this challenge, or some variant of it! I'm posting this a few days early so I can see if anyone wants to join me, and, of course, I'll come back here November 1st to debrief and let you all know what I learned and how it went. (Unless I like it so much that I decide to keep going with the fast.)