Hi,
I know I wrote a post only yesterday (wow, this Thanksgiving vacation thing has really inspired me) but here we go again.
Anyone who's read a post or two who knows me knows that I love to read, and I love to write. But lately... well, to be honest, I've had a very hard time reading. And I know why that is; internet, phones, computers, and more internet. There's just so much that I do when I could be reading, and even when I do read, I find it very difficult to concentrate.
Over the last couple of days, I think I'm doing a lot better on that. I'm not up to anywhere near my old reading speeds- it's rather embarassing, actually- but I find myself reading with my computer closed in front of me, thinking "I could go on the internet instead" but continuing reading instead.
Writing is also better. I'm up to almost 57,000 on my current novel (not the NaNoWriMo one), and I've also done quite a bit of plotting which is really helping in continuing writing and will hopefully save the complete and utter disaster that's my first draft when it comes time to edit. I find myself just sitting down and writing, and I'm writing parts that I want to write and I'm feeling okay about them, which is something that hasn't happening in a while.
But the internet still lures me in. There's the blog, there's obsessively tracking my new phone order through UPS/ reading reviews/ watching video reviews, there's reading other blogs, there's Goodreads, there's email... the list just goes on and on. And I know I should be doing work or reading or writing or something important, but somehow I just never do. And I really wish I could change that.
Today, I think I did a little better. I went outside and got a little bit of exercise, I went grocery shopping, I went on a walk, I got some reading in, I got some writing in, and now I'm writing a blog post. But the internet was still a huge part of that. I found myself not even knowing what to do but opening up my Chrome simply because that was what I did. It's getting rather ridiculous, and it's bad for me, but I'm not really sure what to do about it.
I love the internet. I think it's one of the most amazing inventions ever, and I can't imagine life without it. I love the easy access I can have to it with a smartphone. I love how easy it is to interact with other people. I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do without Google.
But the harsh truth is that it's also sucking up my life, and not in a good way. It's not the only thing- TV is another culprit; I don't watch much, but when I do, binge-watching is an understatement- but it is a huge part of it. And I honestly don't know how to strike a good balance.
Back to the title- yes, the world has gone rather mad (among other things, Blogger for some reason put a random swear word in the title which I really hope doesn't appear again when it's published). The craze for new and better technology is amazing and wonderful and insane. There's so much out there, and it's all so outdated so quickly. I can't keep up, so I don't even try, but I do read about it, and that takes up my time to. It's all just crazy, and somehow I seem to be the only one who just can't handle all of the information and capabilities that phones and computers keep throwing at us. When everything changes so fast, how can I miss a second of my news feed? The internet has so much access to information that I just don't have time to process it all.
That was rather more of a rant than a real post. I'm sorry if it makes no sense; I don't generally edit my posts and I have the feeling that my stream of consciousness is not very comprehensible by the general public.
If anyone has any tips for balancing the internet with other things, that would be great. Or, if not, at least I'd know I'm not alone...
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