Switch To Off To Save Sanity
Lifehacker has an interesting entry today about people unplugging their computers to avoid distractions. Honestly, I don’t know that I could take things to such an extreme: when I want to go online to look something up I want to do it right then. That 3-minute boot up process seems far too long when I’m in a hurry.
But I do make a point of pretty much ignoring my computer over the weekend. This, of course, infuriates friends and family who’ve come to think of me as being online all day, every day. They dash off quick emails then expect equally quick replies and, when I don’t answer for two days, assume I’m either angry with them, dead or both. Fortunately I’ve been slowly training those close to me to understand that I need that time offline to avoid blogging burnout.
Unfortunately, I still lose quite a bit of time to the computer during the week. It’s just so hard not to pop open my laptop to quickly check email as I walk by… only to find that 15 minutes later I’m still hunched over the thing dashing off a flurry of responses. Or I’ll go online to look something up quickly, then find myself sitting there two hours later still mindlessly surfing, usually without having found the information I was originally looking for.
Yes, I could use one of those programs that blocks access to time-wasting applications and sites. Yes, I could exercise a bit of self-discipline (but, hey, if I was good at that I’d still be a size 6, wouldn’t I?). I’ve made some progress by refusing to even look at email until I’ve read the morning headlines and written a couple of draft blog entries, but even those things often lead to further distractions.
How do you avoid losing entire days to the internet? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!
My DH complained that I spend too much time on the computer (despite the fact that he gets on his computer as soon as he gets home and plays online games until he goes to bed). So I set up my laptop on my desk in the office. I don’t go in to the office very often during the day because it’s one of the least favorite rooms for me in the house. It’s usually a mess of papers that need to be filed which I’m too lazy to do, or the kids have toys all over it (because keeping them in their bedrooms like they are supposed to is just doesn’t make the toys as interesting to play with), or because the office is where I sit to do the bills every two weeks and being in this room makes me cringe with those memories. I have to say this has worked out. I don’t play online games anymore (which despite his complaint of how much time I was on the computer, DH now complains that I don’t play the games with him anymore), and I get a lot more done around the house in a more timely manner. Like you, I can easily get lost in Internet Land and happily stay there all day, but with three kids, a DH, and a house to take care of I just don’t have that kind of time.
So that’s what I do. And like you, I leave the computer on so I don’t have to wait for the awful boot-up time when I need to know something right away. I’m impatient like that.
That’s a pretty good suggestion, Bridget! My husband’s office is my least favorite room, too: it’s cluttered, smelly and dusty. (I refuse to clean it for him because he complains that I move stuff around when I dust.)