Yesterday I worked from home in the afternoon, so I had my first experience of having to be disciplined about when it was time to turn the computer off. Typically, I just tell myself that when I get off the wifi-enabled bus, that’s it. I step off the bus and into my unplugged existence. But last night was a little different.


Perhaps unsurprisingly, with a 5:30 cut-off deadline approaching, I worked much more efficiently. I had an interview to transcribe for my work blog, and instead of dallying my way through it (transcribe … rss feeds … transcribe … check email), I just had to go straight through.

This is a definite pattern I’ve seen in my use of technology: when I have a clear cut-off point, I am forced to use the tools more efficiently. Der, right?

But it’s sort of like becoming vegetarian: you can’t just cut out meat. It’s not just about what you abstain from, but also about what you take in. So in the case of unplugging, it’s not just about using technology less, it’s about being more efficient and mindful when you’re not abstaining.

I can’t tell you how many times it’s taken me 8 hours to do 45 minutes of work thanks to my chronic distractability. If you stood looking over my shoulder while I worked, it would be really hard at any given point to know what I was doing, because I do five things at a time. Many of them are big picture tasks (for instance, my years of fucking around on blogs and in my blog stats ultimately became critical social media marketing job skills), but often it’s just my brain doodling in circles.

So it’s been interesting to observe in myself the act of actually focusing because there’s a time limit on how long I can circuitously doodle around.

Last night also marked the first time that I thought about cheating. Still mourning my happy hour-induced skipped dance class, I went to a 6pm NIA class last night. When I got home, Dre had already left for his Aerialist class, and I found myself musing, “No one would know…”

Two thoughts hit me simultaneously:
A of all: I would only be cheating myself. No one else cares.
B of all: My use of the internet is all about connecting to other people, so yes, everyone would know.

Instead, I put together a birthday package for a friend, read a copy of The Week, had dinner, took a shower, and hung out with my puppeh. Then Andreas came home and we played a game of cribbage, which I lost. I’m sure I’m still paying karmic debt for taking this picture.