Web Sabbatical during Lent

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.

One thought on “Web Sabbatical during Lent”

  1. 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.