Have any of you ever wondered if you might be actually addicted to the Internet? I don't mean in the casual use of the word; I mean like an actual addiction, something that messes up your life and takes away the best of your energy and time. Have any of you ever experienced anything like that?I'm asking because it's 1:30AM on Sunday night - I should have been in bed long ago, getting rested and refreshed so I can get up early and be prepared for class tomorrow. Instead, I'm still up, cramming for an exam and trying to catch up on the huge pile of things I didn't do this weekend because I spent literal hours on Pinterest, watching YouTube videos, and playing on Facebook.
I have struggled with spending too much time on the Internet almost since I got my own laptop, five or six years ago. But this year in particular, I've noticed it getting much worse. I'm starting to miss assignments, turn in shoddy work, and spend late nights like this one, cramming, all because I've eaten up my best time on Facebook or watching yet another music video about the Reichenbach Fall.
I'm worried.
My first impulse when pondering the problem is to have my sister change all of my passwords and keep me off of everything for a couple of months until I learn to control myself; but I can't do that for my biggest black hole, Facebook, because one of my duties as an officer in my student organizations is to update the Facebook pages and communicate with other officers. I've tried to set time limits for myself, but they typically last about three hours (until my morning's classes are done and I have a half-hour break for lunch).
The other thing that worries me, and I'm going to confess this very humbly and honestly, is that I don't just spend hours on Pinterest looking at crafty things and recipes. I'm looking at Josh Groban and Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston. Now, I'm a very prudish person, and I doubt that any of my starstruck fantasizings would ever meet anyone's standards for inappropriate; but it doesn't matter, because I'm still dedicating huge amounts of time and brainpower to unsaved men who have no idea I exist. My devotions typically last about 5-10 minutes in the evening. My YouTube reveries last hours.
So I'm really not sure what to do at this point. Ask someone to help me stay accountable on my time limits? Write out a schedule for my day and force myself to stick to it? I do pray for help, but when my mind is so full of fluff, my prayers usually come out pretty fluffy too. I feel like I spend every day nagging myself to get to work, get off the Internet, quit listening to that song, listen to something besides Josh Groban, don't daydream during exams, get off Pinterest during lecture ... it's very frustrating.
Father, I'm so sorry for how I've been wasting and abusing the time You've given me, such a precious gift. Please forgive me and show me how to break these bad habits so I can come back to full, intentional fellowship with You and be attuned to the world around me!
Confusedly,
Vicki
An accountability partner could help a lot! For me, I set limits, and I write lists of what I have to accomplish (or what I want to accomplish) in a day. It's sad to look back at a day and think all the time is wasted, so to me it's worth it to decide what my priorities are for the day before I spend a little frivolous time on the internet.
ReplyDeleteIf I had your email address, I would send you some things I wrote to myself last year...but suffice it to say, I know what you are talking about. *hugs you*
ReplyDeleteAnd I do still find myself looking at the clock going where did that last hour go?!?!? I needed that time to study! But one thing I used A TON during my Foundations class these past few weeks was SelfControl ap - it's for Macs, but I think there is a version for other kinds of computers as well. It can lock you off any site you specify for up to 24 hours (And when the timer went off, I pretty much just set it again instantly, before I had a chance to get distracted and change my mind.) It's nice because there are things online that I'd need to look up...but pinterest really didn't have enough useful things on it to justify me being on there - so I'd just put it on the block list. Same with blogger or youtube or anything. Setting a timer so at least I'm AWARE of how much time has passed on one of those sites helps too - and if I can set the blocking as soon as the timer goes off everything is good. :) But at least it can give you a big solid piece of time where you can't get on any of those sites and so...have time to get schoolwork done. :)
Besides that...a habit I had for YEARS growing up was having my devotional time first thing in the morning. College did get in the way of that (fall into bed at 3am with homework finally finished and it's really hard to get up any earlier than 30 minutes before the 8am class the next day :P), but even now if I have not yet read my Bible etc. in a day, I have Seek ye first echoing in my head (there are reasons it is my life verse.) Sure, it should not be something that must be forced...but if I do force myself to read my Bible even before I study (let alone get distracted by other things), it makes everything go better. (It's harder to spend time with God and then blow off one's studying. :P)
So, yes, that's two things that have helped me...because I know exactly what you're talking about and it HAS gotten better but there is still a lot I'm working on...so, next time I find myself wasting time when I have an assignment or devotions undone, I will pray for you to be spending your time wisely and glorifying God with how you are using your day! :)