I don’t know about you, but I love the internet. I love being able to look at pictures, watch YouTube videos, listen to music, chat to friends, read blogs, and post on my own blog. So what happens when the internet breaks, like it did this week? (Which is why Monday’s post is being posted today. Sorry about that guys.) Well, in my experience, there are five different stages to being without the internet. Here we go:

Stage 1: Panic. At first, I run around and panic because I don’t know what to do without all the procrastination options offered by the internet. What am I going to do without being able to click from Facebook to Blogger to YouTube and back again over and over? My world has shrunk to the size of a house. It’s a national calamity. How am I going to survive this?

Stage 2: Acceptance. Turns out that when the internet breaks, there isn’t much I can do about it. Other than complain about it. Which is fun for the first half hour. Still, there doesn’t seem to be a lot to do without the distractions of the internet. How on earth am I supposed to amuse myself now? I suppose I could always work on some writing. At least that doesn’t need the internet to work.

Stage 3: Acclimatize. Wow, there’s actually a good side to having no internet. There’s no Facebook, YouTube or Blogger. So that sounds a lot like the bad side, but it also means no distractions. Editing my book is kind of fun actually. This having no internet thing is really good for my productivity. 15  pages in an afternoon is pretty good for me. Maybe the internet should break more often.

Stage 4: Rejoice. It’s alive! Or at least it’s fixed. Time to run round in circles and celebrate the awesome fact that the internet is back. I can finally do all those things I’ve been dying to do on the internet ever since it broke. Step aside editing. Procrastination is back.

Stage 5: Huh? What was I going to do on the internet again?

So there we have it, the 5 stages of internet deprivation. It’s interesting to note, but once I get past the fact that I have no internet, whether it’s because the internet is broken, or I’m away from home, I really am much more productive with my writing. Guess now I know the secret to a great writing day: turn off the internet! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to disconnect my computer and disappear into the editing cave once more.

Do you work better without the internet? What’s your secret for a great writing day? Anyone else in the editing cave at the moment?

You can also find me on my Facebook page. Why not stop by and say hi?