Gollum and his ring. Lance Armstrong and his bike. Threeundertwo and her laptop.
It was a rough day yesterday. I caught myself heading to the spot where the computer usually sits at least 20 times. Every single time I had to remind myself that I wasn't going to turn it on today.
I wanted to do some online banking.
I wanted to see what the LOLcats were up to.
I wanted to twitter about the tabbouli I was making.
I wanted to look up a recipe.
I wanted to get past that monkey level on Jewelquest III.
I wanted to look on Craigslist for a chair.
But they all had to wait. And I discovered, that with few exceptions, I could survive without having my computer on all day. But was surviving worth it?
What got done:
I spent most of the day with the girls doing their back-to-school shopping. Do you know how hard it is to find pants for a long-legged pre-teen who is shaped like a toothpick? It took hours.
I cooked up a storm, helped Jungle Boy with a Bach piece on the piano, worked on a needlepoint ornament, and got some laundry done.
Was life better?
- I did the same amount of things I would get done on a day with the computer; it didn't seem to free up any time.
- Nobody in the family noticed that I was off the computer and the computer was off the counter. Maybe they're all used to it?
- I worried about little things I needed to get done, like the online banking and emails to PTA people.
As I sat there in a cold sweat yesterday, I took out pen and paper and thought about all the things I do on the computer. It's quite a list. I prioritized. Next step is to strategize when each of these things get done. I feel like I'm organizing a closet full of useful but messy items.
You can stop reading now, but here's my list. Somehow twitter and playing games didn't make the cut. . .
Essentials
- hotsync my pda
- read all my email and respond to it
- online banking
- update quicken files for PTA
- update spreadsheet of tutor assignments that I've coordinated
- email tutors
- print out the week's schedule from my calendar program
- upload pictures
- menus and shopping list in MasterCook Deluxe 9.0
- backup files
- write next post
- How Do You Do It? post
- The Secret is in the sauce
- visit blogs of commenters on my blog
- visit blogs I've put on my "A list" on my reader
- visit the rest of the blogs on my blogroll
- visit the networks I belong to
- Visit my fellow Christmas fanatics
- Read the news
- Work on my latest shutterfly book
- upload old pictures (I want to get everything stored online)
- Update my Netflix queue
- Check what's free on Craigslist
- Visit my fellow Disney fanatics
- make a toonlet
- I can has cheezburger
- Update my massive list of creative projects
- See what's on sale at Amazon
- download music and ebooks
- Keep track of my goals on Joe's Goals
- Stay inspired to lose those last few at sparkpeople
But I don't think I need to subject myself to a computer-free day ever again (shudder).