Figuring out how best to spend “spare” time (that not allocated to working, sleeping, eating, and the other necessary daily activities) is always a conundrum. Do I read blogs, or write my own entries? Do I knit, or surf Ravelry? Do I watch TV, or read books? The pendulum has recently been swinging too far in the wrong direction; I’ve been consuming more than creating, taking the easy, passive way out to filling those spare minutes rather than thinking about what I really want to achieve with them. It’s so easy to just “check what’s out there”, intending it to be for a few minutes only, and finding the time stretches, like some version of Parkinson’s law, so that I’ve accomplished nothing at the end of the evening. If I can’t remember what I’ve browsed, then was it worth reading? How much time should I spend on catching up on what people I don’t know think?
So, my plan is to think about my activities more. If surfing, or reading feeds or tweets, then to do so deliberately, rather than drifting along for lack of thinking about what I’d really rather be doing. I’ll try to use my judgement more often, in other words, to close the computer and spend more time with the world that’s physically present. Unless I decide that I feel like aimlessly drifting through the Web, of course.
I wonder how long I’ll keep this up?
Good reminder. I’m currently in a situation where I’m staying in a place without a power plug in the room, so I can’t use the internet in the evening. I’ve been feeling so much more productive the last few weeks because of that. More focused during the day and doing stuff that feels more “useful” in the evening (writing, drawing, reading novels). In short, I completely agree with your goal.
(Now, is it only me who misread the first use of “surf” as the kind involving surf board and ocean and was then mentally using that meaning throughout the post?)
So this is about doing things deliberately, with a purpose, versus drifting into activities. And I mostly agree that drifting usually leads to wasted time. But I’m reminded of Ivan Sutherland’s essay, “Technology and Courage” — doing things deliberately uses up some of the limited amount of courage we have available. And there’s something to be said about drifting into things: your subconscious is smart, it will lead you to interesting places sometimes.
Anyway, thinking about how you spend your time is a good thing. You can’t totally get a grip of the wandering and drifting, but maybe you can channel it away from obvious sinkholes 🙂
(Found your site through Tim Bray’s Twitter Stream)
Creativity is essential to happiness, I believe. One test I pose myself when I find myself drifting online is the question “Is this a topic or conversation I could contribute to?” or “Is this a person I’d like have a conversation with?” The answer doesn’t always have to be yes, especially if I’m reading the news or a famous person’s web log. But when it is yes, it means I’m connecting to people and things. And it means I don’t have an excuse not to post something on a blog or twitter, or send someone an email.
View networks, — formal, informal, or even only theoretical — as a means for expression, not just reception, and see how well each network accomplishes that goal for you.
Good luck.
It’s a continual battle to be really present in one’s own life. I’m going to read the Sutherland essay that is mentioned in the second comment– the idea shared here is interesting– but I think there is a significant difference between getting “sucked in” or “drifting” and what I consider to be mindful wandering. The first two are easy for me, and not often in any way productive (in either a traditional sense of getting something done or the more abstract sense of opening up my mind). If anything they are the opposite…