Skip to main content

Distracted

Technology, especially the computer and Internet, have greatly improved my life. It has become so much a part of my day-to-day that I don't really even think about how much my life is enhanced and improved by the Internet. I believe this is likely true for all of you out there in cyberworld as well.

There is a downside I've been thinking a lot about recently. Distraction.
I am like a school kid with ADD when I come to my computer in the morning. I want to stay on task, I really do but the Internet is ripe with tempting diversions.

This morning for instance, I went online to check my email and Facebook. I went to Facebook where a friend posted a funny video that leads me to You Tube where I get lost amongst similar gems. After several minutes - maybe 20 or 30 - I remember to check my email and log onto my home page where OOOO look, look over here on my home page there is a link to the NPR story I only got a chance to hear the end of yesterday, now I can listen to the whole thing. It's a story about a book I was curious about, so I go to Amazon to search for the book and Amazon conveniently has listed some of their suggestions which includes the book I was curious about and others I had yet heard about, so I start to click on the books and learn more. I put them in the Wish List and then see that Amazon has started this Universal Wish List - which means I can add items from almost any other site to my Amazon list. Well, heck, I have to give that a try. So I go to J Jill and find that I can use the Amazon feature with J Jill! I'm so thrilled that I start looking - and I'll be darned but there's a huge, huge sale with free shipping and 15% off my entire purchase. Well, I didn't really need anything but heck such a deal.

After a few moments, I wonder why I'm shopping on J Jill and remember that I don't need anything. Wasn't it that Dave Ramsey book I read parts of that talked about scaling back and only getting what you need? I can't recall, so I go back to Amazon to check if that's the book and remember my reason for going to the J Jill site. But I cannot remember what brought me originally to the Amazon site. I look through that site's wish list and see the book I heard about on NPR! I better order that, I think, before I forget again. Now what was that other book or author I came to Amazon for?

I can't recall so I go back to my email account. There is an email from a teacher that reminds me I need to log on to the school site to check grades. For both schools - different districts.  By the time I'm done with that, I see that I have now spent 90 minutes on the computer and haven't completed one thing I needed to complete. Which was???

From now on, before I sit down in front of this attention-grabbing-distraction-causing technological wonder, I will have to make a to-do list. Or I'll never get anything done!

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha...
2 comments
Read more

Christmas cards

I sat down to reluctantly address Christmas cards. While our list has slowly dwindled through the years it's still a sizeable number, especially when it's viewed as a task approached reluctantly . Know what I mean? Some Christmas 'tasks' are a lot less taskier - like decorating or shopping or eating or opening presents. I mean, there's a whole different level of enthusiasm associated with 'tasks' that aren't viewed as tasks - I can't ever remember a time when I sat down to reluctantly open a present or eat a Christmas cookie! Anyway, I approached the Christmas card addressing with a less-than-positive, more bah-humbugish attitude. I poured a cup of coffee, grabbed the markers (I had to have a green, a red and a black one), the list and of course the envelopes (which John had already stuffed with the card). I turned on some Christmas music, but not too loud or it would distract me (and it really doesn't take much to distract me. Squirrel!),...
Post a Comment
Read more

The summer that wasn't

It's July 30. Summer, right? Wrong!!! In Michigan, we had our summer two weeks ago for about 10 days. Saw a recent post on Facebook that read:"You know you're in Michigan when you wear your bathing suit on Monday and your parka on Tuesday." We sweltered for a week or two and then were chilled again. That's where we are now. Chilling at 70. Weather aside, it no longer feels much like summer. The back-to-school ads, commercials, displays and talk have begun full-force. And I feel like I just got used to having the three-not-so-little Piggins home again and now I have to get them ready for school. Delaney has a little longer, but Michael leaves for Wayne State law in two weeks and Matthew for his sophomore year at DePauw in three.  I get the nest re-feathered and damn these 'baby' birds but they stay for too short a time then fly away. *sigh* Since this is the "glass half full" blog of a pseudo-Pollyanna, I will revert to thinking positively ...
Post a Comment
Read more