For many of us, the internet is a primary source of recreation and a critical part of everyday work. No matter how you use it, it's expected to be there - at all times.

When the connection goes down, sadness quickly fills the room. It's funny just how addicted people are to the internet. We're so hooked that the loss of connectivity seems life altering. I admit, when I lose connection, my frustration level skyrockets and I feel utterly helpless.

However, it's important to remember that it isn't data running through our veins, it's blood. We don't live and die online and there are loads of things we can do to keep busy while the ISP fixes the issue. So let's not whine about it, let's put the extra time to good use.

Here are some ideas:

Read ebooks

You surf online, come across a nice ebook, download it and save it in your ebooks folder to come back to it later. That 'later' is now. This is the time to open those PDF files and read them. If you have liked an ebook in the past, read it again. I'm sure you can get some valuable information in this process. Don't have any ebooks? Check out Project Gutenberg where you can access thousands of books for free.

Catch up with friends

There's no MySpace or Facebook, Google Talk or Yahoo to communicate or chat with your friends. So what do you do ? Simple - pick up the phone and call your friend next door with whom you have always found easier to chat on Facebook. This could be a nice time to meet your friends who stay in the same city.

Read magazines or newspaper thoroughly

Pick up and read that magazine or newspaper that you dismissively flipped through yesterday. I know it's a shock - who has time to read the newspaper when you can get news in a click, right ? But the conventional way of reading news has its own charm and its own importance too. And yes, it's always offline too :)

Clean your computer

The perfect time to unplug those cords from behind the computer tower, open the tower and start cleaning the heaps of dust that have accumulated over the past few weeks. Also you can clean and organize your entire desk and give it a new look.

Defragment your PC

Right time for windows users or in fact any computer user to do some offline maintenance work. One of them could be a disk cleanup and defragment. This process could take time, sometimes hours to get completed. But it's one of the essential ways to maintain your computer. You could also try out other steps like going through the list of installed programs and getting rid of the unwanted ones.

Go for a run

You don't need to sit with your eyes fixed on your computer when you are running the defrag or disk cleanup. Unless it's bad weather outside, get your shoes on and go for a run. Kill two birds with one stone :)

Play a game...not a computer game
Good time to complete that unfinished chess game with your younger brother. You could also go out and join those teens for some basketball, tennis or a badminton knock.

Write ( or draw ) something

This time with pen and on paper. Write an article, write your thoughts, write a dream, write anything. It'll feel different and nice to use the mighty pen, again. It gives a different feeling, a feeling which your keyboard could never give. And if you are good at art, this is a great time to sit and draw something really nice.

Get involved in creative pursuits

Get back to your once upon a time favorite but now neglected and dejected hobbies. If you like painting, do it now. If you love cooking , great time to cook your favorite recipe. So get involved in your creative pursuits or simply, what you ' liked ' to do before this internet thing overtook and overpowered you. :)

Complete pending chores

You could please your Mom or your wife by telling her that you are available to get the groceries or do some other household chores. You might hate doing it but it could have good returns for you later in the day, in the form of delicious food...or something else. ;)
On another note, this is also a good time to complete pending work like getting your car serviced or doing some repair work.

Meditate

Finally, if you are too frustrated and just can't seem to do anything else, sit back, relax, take deep breaths and meditate. You may not find enlightenment like Buddha but you'll feel better for sure :)

我们中的很多人把网络当成娱乐的主要资源以及日常工作中的至关重要的部分。不管您如何使用网络，网络一直都被期待在那儿。

当网络连接不上时，整个房间都会充满了忧伤。可笑的是人们是那样的沉迷于网络。我们是那样的着迷，以至于缺少了网络连接，生活就好像会被改变。我承认，如果不能上网的话，我受挫强度将会突发稳进并且感觉到彻底无助。

但是，有一点很重事的事我们应该记住，贯穿我们血管的并不是数据，还是血液。我们生存和死亡并不依靠网络。在网络服务提供者处理问题的时候，我们还可以做许多其他的事情，保持忙碌。所以让我们停止发牢骚并且更合理地利用这些额外的时间。

这儿有一些建议：

阅读电子图书

当您在网上冲浪时碰到一本好的电子图书下载下来并且将它保储到您的电子图书文件夹中以便以后阅读。那么现在就是那个“以后”了。这就是那个打开那些PDF文档进行阅读的时候。如果您过去喜欢过一本电子图书，那么您可以再读一遍。我确信在这个过程中，您可以获取许多有价值的信息。您还没有电子图书吗？您可以看看Project Gutenberg网站，在这儿您可以免费获得上千本图书。

与朋友联系

如果您没有MySpace、Facebook、Google Talk 和Yahoo来与您的朋友交流和聊天，那么您要做什么？很简单，您可以拿起电话打给住在您隔壁的朋友。往往你会发现更容易跟他在Facebook上碰到聊天。这将会是一个您结识与您同市的朋友的好机会。

详细地阅读杂志或者报纸

您可以拿起并阅读您昨天随意匆匆翻过的杂志或者报纸。我知道这很令您震惊——当您只用轻轻一点鼠标就能得到新闻消息时，谁又会花时间阅读报纸呢，对吧? 但是，这种传统的阅读新闻的方法也有它自己的魅力和重要性。当然，这种传统阅读方式往往是不用上网的。

清理您的电脑

这绝对是个理想的时机来拔除电脑主机后面的电线，并且打开主机，清除过去几周以来堆积下来的灰尘。同样您还可以清理和布置一下您的整张桌子，让桌面焕然一新。

整理您的个人电脑的磁盘碎片

这时候适合Windows的使用者或者实际上任何一个电脑使用者做一些离线的电脑维护工作。这些工作中有一项就是磁盘清理和磁盘碎片整理。这个整理工作要花些时间，有时完成要花几个小时。但是这个工作对于维护您的电脑来说是不可缺少的方式之一。

你也可以尝试其他措施，例如检查已安装程序列表并卸载掉无用的程序。

出去寻找快乐

在您运行磁盘碎片整理和磁盘清理程序时，您不需要一直守在电脑前面。除非外头天气不好，您可以穿上鞋子，出去寻找快乐，一举两得。

玩游戏，但是不是电脑游戏

这是时间您可以与您弟弟下完没有下完的国际象棋。您也可以到户外和那些十几岁的孩子一些打篮球、打网球或者打羽毛球。

写一些东西（或者画一些东西）

这个时候您可以拿起笔或纸，撰写一篇文章，抒发您的观点，记录您的梦想，写一写任何东西。再一次拾起有力的笔头，会让您感到不同和愉悦。用笔写东西会给您带来一种不一样的感觉，一种键盘永远不可能带给你的感觉。如果您擅长美术，这时候您可以坐下来画些非常漂亮的东西。

从事一些有创造力的消遣活动

去找回那从前喜欢但是现在忽略掉的委靡的爱好吧。如果您喜欢绘画，那么现在就开始画吧。如果你喜爱烹饪，现在就烹调您中意的食谱吧。所以从事一些有创造力的消遣活动，或者简单的说，就是捡起那些被网络取代超越了的曾经的爱好。

完成待完成的琐事

您可以告诉您的母亲或者妻子，您可以去买食品杂货或者做些其他的家务，这会令她很高兴。您可能讨厌这样做，但是这样做会在今天稍后给您带来优渥的回报，以一餐美食的形式或者其他方式。

另外，您也可以用这个时间来完成待完成的诸如检修保养汽车或者修理的工作。

沉思

最后，如果您感到十分沮丧而不能做其他任何事情。那么您就什么都不要做，坐着向后靠着，放松，深呼吸，然后沉思。您不可能像佛那样受到启迪，但无疑，是您会感觉好多了。

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