my hiatus
by Eli
in this day and age computers have become an intrinsic part of our everyday lives: from email to myspace to illegal music to ListYourList. i remember a time when i was checking my myspace account multiple times per day. i know that doesn’t sound like much in the world of myspace, but it got to the point where i would get angry if i didn’t have any new comments or messages or friend requests. it was too much for me, so i decided to stop because it was annoying and stupid. i still check it about once a week or so, but after i detached myself i noticed that i was much happier about my interaction with myspace.
so, i’ve decided to extrapolate that idea/concept/notion to computers in general and will be taking, at first, short breaks from computers as a whole. i’m not going to check my email, i’m not going to write on this blog, i’m not going to make any lists on ListYourList, and i’m not going to check any of the feeds i subscribe to. it just feels that i’m wasting my time on a computer, when i could be doing a lot of other things that i really want to do: read more books, improve my spanish, workout, write more (with paper and pen), and the list goes on and on. i think my first try will be for 7 days then 2 weeks and then an entire month.
in the end, i (we) know that this doesn’t mean the end of my relationship with computers. obviously, that is absurd. what it does mean is that my interaction with them will be different in the future; hopefully it will be better. i haven’t decided exactly when and how i will accomplish all of this, but i know that in my heart it will happen soon.
you have been warned.
I am impressed with this decision and I support it completely. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that maybe other people in this house will be inspired to do the same.
thanks for the support. i’ll let you know how it goes, but i won’t be able to inform you through this medium until after the fact. until then!
[...] that, along with a redesigned homepage will hopefully be launched on the 2 month anniversary on July 23rd. shortly after that release, it is my plan to take a small but potent hiatus from the computer world and try to find myself. seriously. upon my return i’ll try and find out how people like the new set up and probably make a few changes here and there. [...]
Everyone has been telling you to not like computers so much/you’re wasting your time on them. Your own blog is different. Allow that portal. I take time off all the time from my site, but its becasue I am busier with other things. You can be busier and not update, just do not do it purposefully. Let your not being on the computer come more naturally. It is a weird carosel you live in E, to love things, and then abstain from them, or change things just becasue its weird and you have the time to devote into not doing something. Chill out with the things you love next time.
maybe it could help if you made a chart? but not get too tech about it. keep it simple (see brooke and emily and the not so used bookis charts in the hall)
i support the break. myspace and the whole online profile gig is strange when viewed at a distance. granted, i’m guilty of membership but i know it’s stupid. does that make it alright? yesterday, i was driving to the farm and i thought about what people did before all this internet stuff. i also thought about when people stop being on myspace. do you grow out of it? it’s like crack. i say, drop the bullshit and go with brandon – purposeful updates to the blog. big ups b-troy.
i’ve been thinking about this some more, and i think that i need to clarify something. i’m NOT taking these breaks in order to eventually completey separate myself from computers. i’m taking them to help me accomplish exactly what brandon and pete are saying. i want to completely remove myself for a certain amount of time to make help make a clean cut. then, when i return i will be more disciplined and use my time on the computer more wisely. in the end, i want it to be exactly what is being suggested, i just think that this will help me accomplish it more successfully.
I think it’s a good idea, in principle, but I also think that instead of totally leaving you should just limit your time…maybe 30 minutes a day…’cause although it’s scary to be hooked on anything, email and such are good ways to stay in touch with people who live in different parts of the world (ala ME). Just keep that in mind.
i think that is a great idea nate, and that is probably what i will do AFTER i take my break. see, i want to totally seperate myself at first and then come back to it with a different sense of things. at that point i will do just that. like, i’ll set aside a 1/2 hour in the morning and a 1/2 hour at night, with the occasional “work day” where i will give myself 4 to 8 hours to work on websites and such. i think that sometimes it is important to totally remove yourself from something to be able to see it properly.
I t00k a m0nth 0ff fr0m c0mputers–because I was at camp and it was inadvertant…
bt I agree withh brand0n–taking time 0ff fr0m c0mputers sh0u1dn’t inc1ude y0ur b10g. b10gging is g00d f0r y0u.
yeah, i’m still thinking about it. i might do what nate said and just limit myself timewise. we’ll see. it should be happening soon, like in 2 weeks or so.
[...] half ago when i decided that i’d had enough. i was spending too much time on the computer and i needed a break. i ended all previous engagements: i moved my friend’s blogs i was hosting to wordpress.com, [...]