I spend a lot of time using the internet and sometimes I feel like it prevents me from being as creative or as productive as I could be. I remember most of my childhood I didn't have the internet or even a television and I was constantly creating music and art, going out and exploring my neighborhood, and reading more books.

When I went to college I had access to unlimited internet and I can clearly remember a decline in productivity.

I think part of the reason why we're creative is because we're bored. Self expression and finding meaning are other core reasons but boredom gives us the needed encouragement to create. Constantly being entertained by videos or music fulfills the desire for sense satisfaction and leaves no need for creativity.

Today I turned off the internet for a little while. This gave me some time to explore some old boxes in my closets and I came across the charger for an old laptop I had lying around. I went on an adventure and installed Ubuntu Server on it. I didn't face any real issues as I recently installed Ubuntu Server on an old MacBook from 2012. That one was a little more work getting the wifi card to work.

I made a little guide on how to install and set up Ubuntu servers. You can find it here.

But I did find a lot of satisfaction in doing this. I attribute the outcome to turning off the internet. Not being constantly entertained made me go on a journey, albeit a small one, and allowed me space to do something fulfilling.

I think it would be beneficial to go internet free a few hours a week and see where it leads.

We finally let the chickens out again to free range and they had a blast. The ground was still moist so they found dozens of worms under piles of wet leaves and had a feast.

My wife has gotten really good at enticing them back into their coop with a handful of grass. Silly little feather butts. With all the grass around them they still prefer the ones we hand feed them.