I have been struggling with how much time I spend on the computer – at times I feel that I have just sat there and stared at the screen, clicking away, not even reading the pages I was opening.   I know my brain shuts down at times; information overload.  Why do it if it is not useful and building up in knowledge or wisdom.

After reading a discussion over at Organized Life by Design I have looked at this a new way.  I have looked at what activities I really want to do on the computer and then I took that to my daily routine to see what will fit where!

It is really the social activities that are a distraction to me – the emails, the blogs, and the social networking so it is these activities that I want to have a specific time in my day, to bring the hours spent there under control.

Email – check first thing in the morning, respond only to the important or time affected

Social Networking – over breakfast and lunch if appropriate

Blogging – after dinner while the kids do the dishes, update social networks

Daily Office time –

After lunch while the kids are doing independent and quiet activities I will work on my daily office tasks.

After the kids are in bed, I’ll plan my tomorrow which means printing off to-do’s and calendars, reply to any other emails for the day and then be free to either write or be productive in some other way.

The other thing I am going to do is turn off, close down my email programme.  This will stop those little beeps telling me I have mail, it will make it more difficult for me to duck in a see who has sent me mail.  For me to read my emails it will be a specific decision I make.  Hopefully that will be a deterrent, or rather an encouragement towards self control.

My ultimate goal is to be able to work on the computer without being distracted with social activities.