I've shared before of my efforts to fight the Facebook battle, but another battle that I want to address is the "computer-on-the-whole" battle.
Like many people who have a constantly-available source of internet, I can easily fall into the trap of neglecting my responsibilities and spending way too much time on the computer. It bothers me, but I find the computer addictive. I find that I am itching to check Facebook-email-blogs just a few minutes after I've already done so, and I also find myself thinking, during particularly stressful moments, "I need a Facebook break!" And those Facebook breaks can be both ridiculously frequent and long in duration ("While I'm on, I might as well check....").
And so, without further ado, I announce a plan that I have had in action since this past Thursday. Ready?
I commit not to get on the computer at all until after our daily quiet time (around 3 p.m. or so).
As I've said, I've been doing this for four days now, and I've found it amazingly helpful, in that:
(1) It keeps me from using the "I need a Facebook break" excuse, which inevitably leads me to neglect my children, my home, my duties, or all three at once.
(2) It keeps me from spending my mental energy on internet debates that I witness when I did my morning internet browsing.
(3) It gives me more time to devote to the things I need to be doing.
To help me with this commitment, I have also this week switched to a pen-and-paper method of homeschool record-keeping rather than a computerized system, so that I don't have to face the temptation of internet-browsing when I get on the computer after school to do record-keeping. Love it!
The only negative?
I am falling even further behind in answering my email, which is not good. However, I was hopelessly behind anyway, so I'll just have to live with it. And, as I need to remind myself, my duties lie first with my family and my home - not my email! (Though I do apologize to anyone who is waiting for an email response from me!)
I do not know if this will be a permanent or a temporary commitment, but in the meantime.... Feel free to come back here and leave nasty comments if you see me on the computer in the morning!
What do you all do to keep the internet monster from taking over your time? I'd love to hear about it!
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