Time At the Computer

I realized something this morning while I was on the treadmill. For the last 12 years, I have spent 10-18 hours a day at the computer. All of my hobbies center now around things that are done while I am sitting here. Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Photography, Making Videos and Slideshows, website development, etc. And it has been getting worse instead of better. That is not to say that I am not interracting with my children while I am sitting here. Believe me, I am. And I am not always multitasking them either, but I am usually sitting right here, in this desk, or in the recliner in our bedroom, with my laptop on my lap.

I tend to multitask consistently. My whole life is an exercise in maximum multitasking. So I may flip between 8 or 10 different projects during a day -- some personal but most work related. However, because I do things that way, I “work” 12-16 hours a day, sometimes more. And all of it at the computer.

I am determined to make some different choices and to limit myself, but i don’t want to make my goal so impossible that I can’t succeed. Maybe I’ll come up with a computer withdrawal program that I did for my fitness plan.... one day at time with measurable goals.

My first goal is to become a better house keeper. It have never done well at this but I need to do a better job. The kids help out a lot, but I need to over quality control. Several years ago I was very motivated by the Fly Lady who asked the question, “Are you living in CHAOS” (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Her email reminders and plan for keeping a clean house and getting rid of unnecessary clutter worked very well today. I plan to subscribe again. That is my first step in my “computer withdrawal plan.”

My second step is to read more. This morning I was listening to the Writers on Writing podcast. The featured Marya Hornbacher who wrote a memoir called Madness: A Bipolar LIfe . She read a few paragraphs from it and it is very well written. Since John has previously diagnosed bipolar, I am interested to read the book and have asked Bart to try and get it through interlibrary loan. Bart is in the middle of Dear Senator which he is highly recommending and I hope to read when he is done. Finally, I want to get a guidebook for my next dream, which is still to be revealed.

Bart is leaving at noon and it may be a stressful day here, so I am not going to limit computer time today. But I slept 9 hours last night (I love Tylenol PM) and it’s 10 a.m. already and I’ve only been on an hour, so that’s already cutting way back. ; -)