In recent years, the internet has gone from a simple way to answer questions to the center of civilization in a matter of years. The immense growth the internet has seen around the world allows us to connect with others like never before and have seemingly limitless potential for accessing information.
However, we have to be careful with the internet. If we don’t set boundaries for ourselves, it can quickly become the source of stress and wasted hours. Let’s look at how we can all set boundaries for internet usage that will help us become happier.
The Importance of Boundaries
When we open up a new tab on the internet, we can go in many directions with our time. Nearly everything on the internet is designed to grab your attention and hold it for as long as possible. If you are not able to recognize your boundaries and limits online, you can easily spend hours just browsing through the internet.
While it’s alright to have relaxing days of casual internet browsing, you need to take control of your internet habits. That is why these boundaries are important to set and stick to when you use the internet.
Healthy Internet Habits to Embrace
Organize Your Desktop
The first way you can help set boundaries is to organize your computer desktop. Just like cleaning off your messy desk helps you work better, cleaning up your virtual space has the same impact to your life. Many people let excessive files and applications build up on their desktop without any thought for the potential amount of distractions they are creating.
Many people have over five tabs open in their browser at any given point, and that is a recipe for disaster. If you don’t set boundaries to limit your desktop space and browser screens, you will be less productive and more prone to drifting off onto whatever website most easily catches your attention.
Set Reasonable Gaming Boundaries
Another common area for people to get distracted and lose track of time is online games. Whether you are playing and online game with your friends or playing online casino games, you need to make sure you are setting boundaries for how much you can play in a given day and when you can play your games.
Playing online games is so much fun that we often play for much longer than anticipated without realizing how much valuable ti8em we have drained. One of the best ways to set gaming boundaries is to only allow yourself to play games when your work is done or at set times in the day. These boundaries will allow you to only play games when you have the time and ability to play them.
Limit Notifications
Something that catches many people off guard when they are in a state of working is a simple notification. A sound that tells you about a notification or a little icon popping onto your screen is all it takes to pull you away from your work. When you are getting bombarded with notifications that can honestly wait to be responded to, it will take you more time to try get back in that great state of work you had before.
The behavioral change you need to make to limit notification is a really simple one: turn them off. We don’t just mean turning off the ones from social media, we mean turning off any notifications that aren’t absolutely essential. That email from a friend can wait and you really don’t need to stop writing your blog post to see who posted an update about their dog.
Limit Unproductive Multitasking
Multitasking has gone from being a skill of being an excuse for getting off track when using the internet. Multitasking is not the ability to have a number of tabs open at once and trying to digest the information from all of them. When you use the internet like this, you are not getting the important information from any once source and are getting minor information from multiple sources.
To stop unproductive multitasking, it is best to only have one or two tabs open at any given point to get your work done. Even when just watching a show or browsing social media, having one tab open helps your brain focus on what is really important.
Avoid Heated and Unproductive Websites
Many people feel like they can say anything on the internet without any negative consequences. Thinking and acting like this on the internet is a surefire way to get yourself into trouble and hot water. The best way to avoid pointless internet conflict is to avoid websites that harbor this content and keep away from websites that reel you in with meaningless information.
To avoid these websites, you can set boundaries by installing website blockers for certain times of the day. When active, these blockers make it so that you cannot access websites that may make you mad or simply waste your time.
Take a Break
Last but not least, one of the best boundaries to set for yourself is to limit the amount of time you spend online in general. Numerous studies show that there are countless benefits from shutting of the screen. With so much of our lives being online, having the ability to walk away from the internet for a while allows you to clear your head and calm down.
It may feel like a hard boundary to set at first but setting time every day without the internet will benefit you in the long run. You will feel more relived and less fatigued during that little amount of time that you will become very grateful for.
Key Takeaways
From knowing what it means to have reasonable gaming habits to reducing the clutter of your online space, setting boundaries is going to be the best way to improve your digital life. Setting boundaries for your own internet usage will show you just how much clutter and stress you can remove from your life.