1% Better: Turn Off Your Internet, How to Manage Multiple Interests, and One of Life's Most Important Skills


By Colby Kultgen

Turn Off Your Internet, How to Manage Multiple Interests, and One of Life's Most Important Skills

Read online / Read time: 4 minutes

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Hello friends!

I'm traveling this week!

I'll still be sharing my 5 favorite things, but the write-ups might be a bit more brief.

Because as much as I'd like to be sitting in this cafe writing to you, I'd rather be out exploring.

Sorry, not sorry.

Enjoy!


1. An extension everyone should install - Unhook YouTube​

YouTube is one of the best resources on the internet.

But it's also one of the easiest places to blink and lose four hours of your life.

You come for a tutorial. You leave with three video essays and a guy restoring a rusty knife.

​This simple browser extension fixes that by letting you hide the parts of YouTube designed to keep you sucked in.

Personally, I have shorts, comments, and recommendations all turned off.

If you find yourself falling down YouTube rabbit holes more often than you'd like, definitely give it a try.


2. A podcast episode I found fascinating - Should I Turn Off The Internet (Lessons From a Family That Did)​

This is an interview between Cal Newport (author of Deep Work) and Chris Moody.

Chris is a former CNN political correspondent who now teaches journalism at Appalachian State.

For the past three years, he has lived with his wife and young son in a cabin with no internet or cell service. They can still get online at work or in town. Their home is simply kept offline.

Obviously this isn't a realistic solution for most people, but there are still a lot of great takeaways if you're seeking a more "offline" life:

  • The home as a "Sabbath space." They still use the internet outside the house. The home itself is the protected zone. You don't need a cabin to steal this idea. Pick one room, or one stretch of the day, and make it off-limits.
  • Adding friction on purpose. They watch movies on DVD, use a landline for calls, and go to the library for entertainment. When something takes effort, you end up doing it because you actually want to, not because it was the easiest option in front of you.
  • Their son is growing up fine without it. He's three, has never watched Cocomelon or anything like it, and Chris reads him The Odyssey instead. He doesn't miss what he's never had.

You can listen to the full thing on Spotify or YouTube.


3. An article I found useful - How to Manage Multiple Interests (Without Spreading Yourself Thin)​

Where are my hobby hoppers at? 🙋🏻‍♂️

If you're anything like me, you have way too many interests and not enough time.

This article shares a few useful ways to manage multiple interests without spreading yourself too thin. My favorite was working in 12-week sprints: choose one main focus now, then rotate to something else later.


4. A quote worth saving

This gem comes from James Clear (author of Atomic Habits):


5. Tweet of the week

Why is this so true 😂.


P.S. Let me know what you'd like to see MORE of in this newsletter (or less of 👀). I read and reply to all your messages!

Have a great week!

— Colby


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Hi! I'm Colby!

I'm obsessed with living a better life each and every day. I want to share what I learn and discover with you.

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