This one goes into the category of things I should have already learned

Tuesday I was holed up in my office clicking on things because I was bored. I happened across a report on CNN that was talking about chinese rehab camps for internet addiction. They interviewed a net addict and discussed the phenomenon of internet addiction as a whole. Specifically they talked about how addicts develop an emotional need for the internet and it interferes with other aspects of their lives. I sat in my office, ignoring laundry, and children, and dishes, and a hundred other things that need doing. I thought about how often I run down just to check my email and end up whiling away an hour or more clicking on links. I realized that while I do have to use the computer for necessary business and writing tasks, I was wasting more time than I was using wisely. It was not a new train of thought. I’ve thought it through before. I’ve even already got the solution. I just have to implement it.

So yesterday morning I decided that I was not allowed to check my email until I’d gotten all the kids off to school and had vacuumed the family room. Since the family room was a mass of toys, this required significant picking up as well. It was highly motivating to me because I want to know what is in my email. All morning I worked hard and fast because I had this nagging feeling that there might be something important in my email box waiting for me. When I finished my work and went downstairs there were several messages waiting. None of them had suffered for waiting an extra hour or two. In fact it was far more enjoyable to have 6 messages to read than it was to check 3 times and only have one or two or none each time.

Today I picked a different household task and did the same thing. It is working. My house is cleaner, everyone is happier. And for both of the last two days the TV and video games have been off. The kids had so much clean space to play in, that they didn’t even want to turn it on. I loved it.

In addition to the morning “no computer” time, I’ve also defined a space in the evening where I’m not allowed to be on my computer. At 5 pm I need to be starting dinner, but frequently I’m in my office clicking just one more thing. So now I’m not allowed to look at my computer from 5pm until 9pm. For those four hours I need to be focused on dinner and homework and getting my kids to bed. If I really need to multitask, I can do housework while doing those things. The evening span of time is harder because I’m more tired and I want to retreat. But if I really want to retreat, I can read a book. At least that way I’m still upstairs with the kids.

I looked at it and realized that this leaves the hours between 9:30 am and 5 pm where I can be on the computer. That is 7 hours of computer time per day. If I can’t finish all my computer things in 7 hours I must be doing something wrong. So far it has been good for everyone. I hope I can keep it up.

And it’s almost five. Time for me to walk away from the computer for awhile.