Day 7 - Final Day

Today I spent a ton of time online, but I limited my non academic activity to 30 minutes. I've gotten a ton of work done, despite oversleeping. I think after this week I will continue to try and limit my non academic internet use , although 30 minutes can a bit too limiting, so i will probably make my limit 45 to an hour. I hope to continue increasing my productivity by limiting my non academic internet use.

DAY 6

today I successfully limited myself to less than 30 minutes of internet. Being that this was a Saturday I did actually succeed in getting a good amount of work done. I also went out for a walk, during time that I likely would have normally spent online. Thank you internet limit plan!

DAY 5

Today I spent less than 30 minutes doing non academic activity online. Today was also the only true snow day this week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is that I was able to step away from technology and have the classic snow day that I had wanted all year. I spent the day doing work and cuddling up with my boyfriend and watching a movie while drinking hot chocolate. I am very grateful to have been relatively computer free today.

DAY 4

today I limited myself to 30 minutes of computer time. I met with my advisor/ professor and spoke with another professor about an upcoming quiz. In talking with them I managed to de-stress and get a better understanding of the work I have to do. I believe this will enable me to best use that time that I am now spending on work instead of the internet.

DAY 3

today I did successfully limit myself to only 30 minutes of non academic internet usage. I pretty much ODed on Pacman yesterday so I didn't have an overwhelming desire to play. Unfortunately although I spent a lot of time of work I still did not get a lot done, since a many of the assignments I'm working on are very difficult and the reading I have to do is dense and takes forever to complete, plus I have to reread it several times to fully understand it. I am planning on speaking with professors tomorrow, to discuss exams and upcoming assignments, and to figure out how I can do my work more efficiently. Hopefully this will help and tomorrow will be easier.

DAY 2

Today I failed miserably. I succeeded in not overusing facebook, but I spent about 45 minutes just playing pacman. I should mention that half the time my boyfriend and I were playing so it did atleast involved some real world interaction... but it was still not the best way to spend time. I am determined to get back on track tommorrow.

DAY 1

Today is day 1 of my week with only 30 minutes of non academic internet use per day. I used the internet to check facebook 3x which consisted of quickly writing back 2 friends (one of whom I reconnected with via fb) watching 2 3 minute videos on fb,requesting and accepting a fb request, playing 2 quick games of pacman (im bad at it which is why it was quick), and 3 quick games of bubble shooter (ditto). I expected to get a lot done today , without internet procrastination, but I really didn't. That being said Monday is also one of my busiest days , so I had minimal free time to work. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

the near death of my laptop and the insight that came with it

Last Saturday my laptop sadly fell from my desk, shattering its screen and destroying most of its mechanisms, rendering it useless. Due to my busy schedule I was unable to go to resnet until Wednesday to give it in for repair (thank god for the warranty), and to receive a loner for the mean time. In these 4 days that I did not have a working laptop, I spent an excessive amount of time on school desktops, not only doing school work but also doing things like going on facebook, playing games, and going on you tube. This 4 day stretch made me realize how dependent I am on computers. While I am not happy about much I over rely on computers, I am glad that I had the opportunity to become aware of it , prompting me to make an effort to become less dependent. As part of this effort, starting on Monday , I will spend a week in which I limit myself to only half an hour of non academic activity on the computer . There will be 2 exceptions. Since I only watch tv online I will periodically allow myself to watch an episode of tv online or movie with a friend and I will allow myself to listen to as much instrumental music as I want on youtube, while studying since it helps me concentrate. Each day I will write a journal entry about my experience and its impact on productivity and socializing.

"getting to know you"

Facebook and Myspace can be a great way to get to know people. For example many college students, contacted their future roommate the summer before their freshman year via facebook, allowing them to get to know the person they would be living with and helping them prepare for living together. Facebook and myspace can also be a fun way to get to know a friend of a close friend who you’re told you have a lot in common with. However people often make the mistake of trying to get to know complete strangers on facebook. They forget that people can lie about anything on facebook and can literally portray themselves however they want. For example a facebook that says its owner is 20, lists interests in common with yours ,and has pictures of an attractive college aged girl, could actually be owned by a 40 year old male sexual predator . You have no way of knowing who the person behind the profile is. This is not to say that there is no possibility of meeting a nice person on facebook or myspace, whose profile accurately represents them, but In my opinion the risk of them being somebody other than who they say they are is too great. What do you guys think?

Facebook Distractions

Facebook has countless advantages. For example it can be used a tool in businesses, can bring those with common interests together, and can help people to get- and stay in touch with friends who they don’t see often. However Facebook can also be an enormous distraction to people who are trying to get work done. College students, like myself frequently go on their laptop with the intention of doing research and *somehow* end up on Facebook for an hour. The other very common scenario is that we go on Facebook while doing work and end up spending 2 hours on a 1 hour assignment because half of our attention is on facebook. Most of us recognize this problem but don’t know how to deal with it. We’re not willing to give up our Facebooks but we know that continuing to procrastinate on Facebook is hurting our ability to work efficiently and taking up an excessive amount of our time. While I think people should try to limit themselves to an hour or less on facebook each day and shouldn’t go on non academic sites after beginning an assignment ,I am aware that this idea may not work for everyone. How do YOU think people can combat the problem of facebook as a work distraction?