We live in a hyper-connected world. This is not a secret. I am a part of this world. This is also not a secret. So when my Internet started crashing every 2-3 minutes, this was a problem.
I work from home, fitting my writing in around my daughter. I am online a great deal for many different business-related reasons. So when my Internet would crash about every 2 mouse-clicks, you can imagine my frustration. Especially since this went on for days. I worked around it as best I could and waited for the repair man to come (which he did a few days ago).
I wasn’t surprised at how hair-pulling-ly upset I was to lose the Internet for work reasons—but what did shock me was how much I missed it for the non-work reasons. How many times I tried to check email. How many times I idly clicked over to Facebook. How many times it pulled me from my work EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT WAS BROKEN.
This got me thinking that maybe I am a little too addicted to the web. Goodness knows that as a stay-at-home-mom these social networks are vital to my staying sane. Being able to converse with an adult and stay in touch with what’s going on outside of preschool? Priceless. But I may have gotten to the point where I need to be a little stricter with my time online.
I have developed the bad habit of clicking over to Facebook every time my minimized tab shows a new interaction. This is one reason I cannot have Twitter open in a minimized tab—the pressure to check those frenetically-paced postings is too much. I have also gotten into the habit of checking my four email accounts when I am “bored”—which coincidentally happens when faced with things I don’t want to do.
While I’ve never missed a deadline, I can tell I’m wasting a lot of time. I could get things done faster. Spend more time with my daughter. Have more leisure time for other things. Maybe even sleep more!
So I’m going to try to cut back on how often I check the Internet. We’ll see how it goes!
How do you control your urge to cyber-splurge?
Thanks for sharing. I continue to work on discipline in this area. It’s called procrastination at its finest. It was freeing when I went to K’s retreat and was not ‘allowed’ online during our writing schedule. Reminds me to do that again!
It is so easy to get lost in the Internet when there’s something else waiting that you don’t want to do! I slipped a little this morning, but did better later in the day!
One of my New Years Goals for 2013 was to be more scheduled with my time online. I was missing deadlines, not just because I was online, it was mostly because life was in the way and I needed a distraction. Anyway I now only check my e-mail 2x a day. Not before 9 a.m. usually around 9:30 and again at about 6:15 p.m. I try to answer what needs answering right away. Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and all of the others I have on my phone and IPad so if I am in between clients or have down time at work I scan:) I try to focus on my writing before 9 am and after 7pm and on weekends with no internet distractions.
How did I not know you had a blog?
I’m going to have to do something like that, I think. Or like what Jonathan Maberry does–10 minutes out of every working hour.
Judging by my hit numbers, my blog is apparently a well-kept secret, Doreen! LOL! I also write for The Author Chronicles blog.