7 Different Ways To Live Without A Computer

At least for a month…​

COVID-19 hit me hard from a financial -and psychological- standpoint, I was not prepared. My laptop broke down and I couldn’t deal with it due to the fact that I use it for almost everything:

• creative work
• content creation
• learning
• reading
• playing games
• studying
• watching online lectures/talks
• attending webinars
• browsing YouTube
• entertainment (not what you think)
• …etc

But I did just fine -at least for a month- until I found another one. I thought I was alone, and it bothered me a lot. At this point, I thought anybody with no computer would hate life and feel like it’s betraying them… it turned out to be wrong.

I found other people who are in the exact same spot as I am, and yes, they complained as well (they found it not working so they stopped doing it.)

This is what I did to change the situation in order and to make it better:

1. Leave the laptop out-of-sight

Because it was not acceptable for me to live through this particular time without using a computer (now it makes more sense because I know how much I really depend on it), I began obsessing about fixing it myself.

I would get it out, wipe any dust away from both the keyboard and screen and then turn it on. This became a compulsive habit.

Later I realized what I was doing. I was still denying the fact that my laptop is broken, it’s not going to turn on anytime soon (no repair shop could fix it).

When the laptop was gone, so did the routines or rituals I built around it. Things like writing, enjoying good quality content…etc were all gone. Now I had to face myself to go do something else.

I was not expecting that to happen so I disliked it. Of course, I’ll be more aware next time in the future.

2. Pick up the books and start to read.

This was simple.

I usually read in the mornings, turning out to books was not difficult as it became a habit.

I somehow learned a lot from reading books -specifically- during those times because I was more focused on reading them, and not distracted by other things.

What’s more, is I began to read multiple hours a day compared to my usual times.

Because I only had some books (and a broken phone); reading became my thing. At that time, I managed to read about 3 to 6 books (90 to 344 pages long). Which is a good number to read in ~2 months!

3. It’s Family Time!

I know this one is hard, but be there with your family.

If you have not spent time with them before, you’d come to realize how much you do not know them. Try to sit there and relax any tension in your muscles, when you’re around them.

Your family may not be exactly what you expected them to be, neither are you to them.

4. Reflect on your life

As you may know, the typical way to reflect on your life is when something huge affects it. Good examples are natural disasters, outbreaks (a global pandemic), a tragedy…etc.

Basically anything with the capacity to shake you off from your foundations.

You end up with a revelation, which makes things much clearer for you. As a consequence, you’ll find a new purpose.

But there are other ways to achieve an equal result without the big fuss.

For example, you can observe your values and principles, and see how well you’re living them, see if they need some change.

Search for the most important 50 or so values on Google and try to pick ones you resonate with (or invent new, realistic ones if that’s what you want). The goal is to have a roadmap of how life needs to go onwards.

What’s more exciting is, after recognizing and observing how you‘ve been living your own life, you can now start to change some of your old actions.

So you begin to grudge less, you treat people around you better… you interact with the world in a better way than you used to.

The more humble you are, the broader you’ll try to look at your own life, the better chances you’ll improve.

5. Write a journal.

It’s quite similar to (#4). Reflecting.

Journaling can be a powerful tool to ease off unwanted thoughts and examine your journey towards life. When you journal, you simplify your thoughts and bring them to a ground level.

This is how it works: say you got a nasty thought (you may find it useless to go through life, or your surrounding is victimizing you so you see that it’s unhelpful to strive or do anything, and maybe you think you’re forever stuck in a situation… etc.)

If you keep those thoughts to yourself -as you would, it’s easy to believe them and act like they were true. Well, it’s your mind who came up with that, why shouldn’t you believe it? Not always.

Okay, now you decided to write down anything that seems to bother you (a feeling, a project, or task, some situation…). All of a sudden you feel slightly relaxed.

You not only stopped yourself from going crazy, but you demonstrated how scary thoughts can shrink in size when put into paper. And that by itself gives you confidence, in yourself, and in the process as well.

To tackle some of your mental clutter, you can try:

• Writing down all that is unhelpful and mentally disturbing (unrealistic expectations, feelings of hopelessness…).
• Facing it by reading it and not shying away from it.
• Letting it sink in for a while to see if it makes any sense.
• Coming up with strategies (if it’s a problem involving work you need to do) or counter-arguments (if it’s a false attribution you believe about yourself…)

Writing is liberating.

Which really means whatever goes into your mind (good or bad) can make more sense when written down.

Remember that this is not an overnight transformation, but it’s a lot better when you don’t know what else to do; it’s also cheap.

6. Plan to take action

When you lose your laptop (or you have one but it’s half-dead :/) you’ll see how much free time you got at your disposal. This isn’t always good -especially if you’re a heavy laptop user- since you didn’t ask for all of that free time nor planned to do something with it in advance.

By planning to take action you keep yourself distracted in good ways. Almost as if you’re asking “what would I do after I regain control?”. Your answer is the plan.

Anyone who’s got their act together in life (school or college, business) have a particular way of planning their actions. That’s because nothing comes to your way without proper plan + meaningful action.

However, a plan doesn’t necessarily mean salvation; you’re not set for life yet. A plan can be refined in 3 months or in a week. What you don’t want to end up thinking is that each plan you make is the perfect one. And it’s not how it works.

How to make a basic plan:

• List down your motivations -or the things you’re going after- at that time of planning (more money, making good friendships, working on your emotional/intimate side, taking care of family…).
• Perform a mind dump with all the things you need to get done in order to attain your goal (write down anything you think about on a blank paper). Refer to the GTD System on Google for more context.
• Start moving and keep yourself in that position. Don’t overthink the above process because it’s not important (compared to making the necessary moves.)
• Make a list, each night before you fall asleep, of the tasks you need to do tomorrow. You’ll remember them more, plus you’ll do them almost automatically.
• Slowly raise the bar for each goal. This is necessary for you to grow.

And these are just a few things you can try.

7. Make coffee…

Yes. Coffee is always good, besides what’s the worse thing that can happen? (skip this step if you have a bad history with coffee).

But all jokes aside, if you already like caffein, getting into the process of making coffee can be a rewarding experience since it’s a good way to spend time. ..it’s one way and the only way.

For avid laptop users, the point is to get in front of the screen no matter what. But here can be times when this will not be accessible. Since your laptop is important, always have a plan in mind of what to do when things get bad.

I hope you found this helpful (especially if you’re in the middle of finding or switching to a new computer). Take care.

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