I've got a problem.
The first thing I do in the morning - even before I go out walking at 5:15 a.m. - is check my email. When I come home from work, the first thing I do is turn on my computer and screw around on the internet while I'm getting Jane's dinner and feeding the dogs and checking the mail and cleaning sippy cups and all of the other glamorous chores that comprise my evenings. This is after spending the bulk of the work day in front of the computer. At night I often half-watch TV with my laptop powered up. It's a problem. It's not cool. And I think it's an issue more and more of us have, as we travel around all day with CrackBerries and iPhones and whatever - in virtual contact with thousands of people, at the expense of actually making fully-committed connections with the people in front of us. I'm afraid Jane thinks my hands are glued to the keyboard.
I think it gives all of us a certain degree of attention deficit disorder. We are so overloaded all the time - ALL THE TIME - with messages and information and texts and blah blah blahhhh that just simply sitting there, having a conversation with someone, or watching TV without any distractions, feels like you're not using your time to its maximum potential - because, you know, checking FACEBOOK is so incredibly important. The most amazing thing is how relaxing it feels to just focus on one single activity, instead of juggling three things at the same time, with your eyeballs glued to an ever-present screen.
So I made a promise to myself to quit the computer crap before work and after work, only logging on after Jane goes to bed. I'm really going to try to just watch TV and not half-watch, half-surf. That's not relaxing, and I think on some level, it stresses me out. We don't let our brains calm down. It's making all of us crazy. At least, it's making me crazy.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
You're not the only one. Just like I limit our kids' time on "electronics," I try to limit myself as well. Isn't it amazing how quickly the time flies when you are on the computer?
I quit the internet on the weekends a year or so ago. It's glorious.
Of course I have my blackberry, but that CAN'T count in 2009, right?
I rarely go online after 5 pm. That's pretty damn glorious too.
I agree with everything you said.
I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring the Internet between Friday night and Monday morning, like something momentous is going to happen and I'm going to miss it. But honestly, it feels so freeing to ignore the computer and focus on what's happening live, in front of you on the weekends.
I hope your new experiment works for you!
Nope,not the only one at all. The nights (before maternity leave) that I did no computer stuff after I got home were so much more relaxing.
Right there with ya... not sure I'm strong enough to resist the siren call and go cold turkey, though. Maybe cut back to only M-F? It's worth a try!
I totally hear you on the half watching tv - half on the computer stuff at night. Not to mention, I am also supposedly listening to my husband talking to me as well. Yeah - SO not relaxing!!
Post a Comment