Screen Time

One of these days, I will convince myself that the world will not suffer in any way, shape, or form if I don't do my daily dive into the internet rabbit hole.

It's a bad habit I got into late last year, as the election loomed and the pandemic raged. I'd read most of my local paper with breakfast. (Sadly, that is no great feat these days; it's a shadow of its once-robust self.) Then, with lunch, I'd read all the relevant articles (not just the headlines) in the New York Times, where I also have a subscription. When I ran out of information there, when I had a few spare minutes, I'd switch over twitter for my daily dose of outrage

It was almost as if some part of me thought I was cramming for a final test, and if I somehow just retained enough of the information of the day, I could ace it, and things would get better.

Things HAVE gotten better, but I don't think the information tucked into odd corners of my overflowing brain helped things along much, if at all. While all that reading definitely made me an informed voter, and helped me to understand what was going on with the virus, I'd venture to say a fraction of the time spent online would have sufficed to give me the information I needed.

With the election settled and the virus cases waning, it's long past time for me to limit my screen time. Keeping up with events isn't a bad thing until said keeping up keeps me from spending my hours on the things I really wanted to spend them on.

There will be no T/F quiz on the current outrageous behavior displayed by many of our elected representatives. No multiple choice test will cover the details of the latest state legislative session. No essay exam will ask me to explain the dynamics behind the explosion of mice eating everything in sight in Australia. (Hey, I never said some of this stuff wasn't interesting...)

But I look around my corner of the world at the end of the day, at my pile of activities left undone because I spent so much time reading 'news', and I regret that I didn't spend most of my time on things I can do something about in the here and now. I've discovered, again, that taking regret to bed night after night doth not make for a good night's rest. (Spending time on screens shortly before bed doesn't help the sleep situation either, so I am told.)

I don't remember the news from two weeks ago, but I do remember the plot of the book I took time to read. And, when I retired, didn't I say one of the main reasons I didn't want to work was that I was tired of looking at screens?  Well, duh! 

It's time, and past time, to change my habits. I don't want to drop the world of news completely, but I want to spend a lot less time there. Spring is here, and I'm tired of looking at my stalled to-do list. Cutting my screen time in half will go a long ways to helping me spend my time on more meaningful activities. I'm going to give it a shot.

Wish me luck!