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Time Out Dot Com
An entire day, about 9 hours to be exact, in front of a computer screen is too much. The fact that I cannot even remember why I sat down in the first place makes the entire ordeal even more pitiful. Was it to pay my daughter’s cafeteria fees? NO. Check my banking account? NO. Respond to a posting on my webpage? I don’t think so. I know I accomplished all of these to do tasks, but not one of the to do’s on my long list of online activities was the initial reason that I took to my familiar seat - freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand - before sunrise this morning. As I sat glued to the screen navigating from one site to another it was not until after my kids returned home from school that I realized how much time had gone by and still I could not get up feeling that there was more that I needed to do. The extended time that I waste plucking away on my keyboard is two-fold with the first reason being, I love to research stuff. The second reason is that half the time I do not know what the heck I’m doing in the online world. That a large part of my work requires on-line communication does not help one little bit. For instance, say I need to update one of my sites or prepare personalized literature for one of my clients. Obtaining the information is the easy part. Remember, I love to research. The hard part however is creating a polished result that is visually appealing and user-friendly. So, I start off doing the first thing which is creating my document and in the next moment I’m way off target and into another domain having to learn from a separate site how to perform a function to assist me in the first thing. In case you are lost just know that at this point I have four or five sites up and running at the same time. Does all of this sound confusing to you? I hope not because actually I am just getting started. There are other necessities that must be included before completing a full day’s work. How to connect all of my social networking sites to my blog posts, creating an e-book from a PowerPoint document, whether to use HTML or CSS codes, or transferring files from my PC to my MAC computer are just a few other challenges that I face when attempting to get my work done. Add daily Facebook and email checks to the regimen and it is like following Alice down the viral loop ending in exhaustion and confusion.
In remembering my college years, which in my mind was not that long ago, I was able to get all of my work done with a simple word processor and my school’s library. After graduating from undergraduate school is when the internet and online activity really sparked. You had dot.com businesses sprouting up, job searching on-line, and a plethora of information right at your fingertips. All you had to do was type in a few words and like magic tons of information was available to you – a researcher’s paradise. This side of navigating the internet is still fascinating. However, having to create your own documents and develop an online presence requires skills that are well beyond my copy, paste, and hit enter skill level. So for this 70’s baby, it becomes system overload due to the time it takes to learn how all of the functions work. That is where I am now – eyes blurred, heavy head, and stiff back. To relieve my symptoms I am sentencing myself to a mandatory 2-day time out. Even in writing this, I am thinking how I need to check my daughter’s weekly school grades and submit a new article. I guess it will all have to wait. As of right now, I am in the need to regain harmony corner committed to learning the lesson of balance for healthy living space.
Martha Dawson, MA Counseling Psychology
Intuitive Life Coach & Reiki Practitioner
