--adjective
1. being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.
2. unnecessary or needless.
3. Obsolete. Possessing or spending more than enough or necessary; extravagant.
I'm seeking to greatly reduce my "Superfluous Web Browsing" for my Operation Consumption Liberation challenge in August. You may be asking, what exactly qualifies as "Superfluous Web Browsing." Excellent question. Here are some examples of what, in my subjective opinion, isn't, might be, and totally is "superfluous web browsing":
NOT Superfluous
- Checking my personal email.
- Checking my bank account/minute balances and paying bills online.
- Getting maps, directions & transportation schedules; looking up the address, hours, phone number, details of a person, business, or event; checking the weather forecast
- Research related to any of my writing projects
- Job hunting and LinkedIn upkeep
Gray Area
- Posting blogs.
- Reading friends' blogs.
- Streaming movies and watching TV online (I have a whole month planned of no movies and TV, after all)
- Getting the news from websites, like NPR, online newspapers, etc.
Super Superfluous
- Facebook. Google +. Twitter. GoodReads. Pretty much all social media websites.
- Reading anything on EOnline or Wonderwall. The Oatmeal. ESPN.com. McSweeney's. Wil Wheaton's blog. The blog of anyone I don't know personally.
- Browsing online stores or craigslist or ebay or Etsy when I'm not shopping for anything specific
- Going to any website that links off of Yahoo or MSN.
- YouTube. IMDB. Playing games online. Non-work related Google and Wikipedia searches.
- SO. MUCH. MORE.
Now you may disagree that Facebook is Superfluous Web Browsing ("It's networking!"), and you may think I should do all my writing research in the library with printed matter, and find a tailor in the Yellow Pages that I currently stand on to stretch out my Achilles tendons. Tough. Go do your own "No Superfluous Web Browsing" month with your own definition of "Superfluous Web Browsing."
Here's what I'm doing for MY "No Superfluous Web Browsing" August:
- I'll be abstaining from all items listed under "Super Superfluous." And I'm taking the Facebook and Google+ apps off of my phone.
- I will spend no more than 15 minutes daily looking at friends' blogs (if I want them to read mine, I gotta read theirs) and reviewing the news online.
- I will check my email no more than three times a day.
- I will limit set time limits on how long I research any particular issue for a writing project to avoid getting side-tracked on tangential but nonessential research questions (limit can vary for project).
- I will allow myself to watch a total of four streaming episodes of anything a week. Jesus. Better cram a few in tonight!
- I will write my blog posts offline and spend no more than 20 minutes posting them, uploading pictures, linking links, and formatting online. I will limit myself to four posts total during August. I will not spend time looking online for stock photos to break up my text; I will just use the most recent pictures on my phone if in doubt.
That's it. Simple as pie. Which is not simple at all, though my mother makes it look really simple.
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| Mom and my rhubarb pie. Trust me, she did all the hard work. |
Also not simple? Making a custard fruit tart with gingersnap cookie crust, as I discovered the other week.
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| It was pretty. Then it fell to pieces in transit. However, all the pieces tasted good. |
As detailed in the note to my Facebook friends which I posted there and here the other day, I'm balancing out the removal of social media interactions and internet entertainment with the addition of more connecting with old friends via the phone, Skype, personal email, snail mail postcard, or in-person visit. I want to connect with friends that I haven't seen or interacted with outside of Facebook in the last six months, and I'd like to contact at least one person every two days (16 people minimum). If you'd like to talk to me too, please refer to the previous post, or comment below.
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