Two Lessons Learned From My Day Without The Internet

Yesterday the nightmare came true…

The internet stopped.

When your business is largely based online this is a major worry. But when the internet gave up on me yesterday I realised that sometimes the internet can actually be a hindrance.

Even as an internet marketer, stepping away from the internet for a moment can actually increase how effectively you work…

What happens when the internet stops!

I turned on my laptop at home to load up the internet.

But it didn’t load.

I tried my other home computer.

Still: no internet. Not good.

I needed to finish various bits and bobs for this month’s issue of Shortcut Confidential which goes to the printers today. To do so, I needed the web. I was on the verge of panic, ‘imagining’ all I needed to do.

But then I stopped and thought about it logically.

What could I do without the internet? And what did I definitely need the internet for?

I made a quick list. The ‘without the internet’ column was much longer than the ‘with the internet’.

Seeing the list immediately reduced the panic…

By taking what I needed to do out of the realm of theory – out of my ‘imagination’ – and putting it down on paper in plain and simple fact, I’d stopped thinking irrationally and started thinking rationally.

I could now see clearly what I could do then and what I’d need to do at the office today.

With a clear list of the tasks that I could do, I was able to work through them much more effectively. So much so that I finished them ahead of time and was able to pop out to see the new Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino, which I very much enjoyed.

Two lessons learned from my day without the internet

There are two lessons here that you can easily apply to both increase the effectiveness of your working practice and reduce the stress of work:

1. Once in a while turn the internet off. This might feel wrong, this might horrify you, but try it.

Without the distractions of work email, personal email, social media accounts, news websites, football scores, and so on, you’ll find you complete the task at hand much quicker, therefore freeing up much more time in the long run.

2. When work does seem like it’s piling up on you and you’re ‘imagining’ all the things you need to do, get it out of your head and onto paper.

Our imagination has a tendency to make things seem worse than they actually are. But when you write down the facts the reality is never as bad as what you imagined.

I’ve phoned BT and they say they’ve sorted the connection problem. The internet will be back on by the time I get home from the office.

But from now on I for one won’t be taking it for granted that it always NEEDS to be on. You’d be surprised how much an online business can get done without being online!

Category: Business Success