Stuff Figured Out, Stuff Gotten Wrong
A few things I've learned lately:
The internet as addiction is a true thing. Here's why. If you agree to write for an hour each morning before internet or email, then you have to be absolute about that. One hundred percent. No deviating at all. You can't say, Oh, I'll just *look* at the headlines here on this other computer where I'm not planning to write anyway. You can't say, Oh, I'll just peek to see whether I have any incoming messages -- and then, upon finding them, you can't say, I'll just *read* them; as long as I don't reply to them I am doing okay. Or, I'll just answer this *one* because it's important and I can't expect to have all my business hung up on whether I get my work done this morning first. I'll peek at Facebook but not post anything. I'll peek again. And read this one article. And follow this link. And explore this new writer. And answer another email. And take care of that one thing I've been meaning to do for days and if it doesn't get done now, then it never will.
Now it's 10:44 and you haven't written. And the rest of your day is waiting. It really IS like having one drink. You cannot have even one. You cannot check email. You cannot look at a screen. You cannot break the rules even a little because a tiny little break is the same as a vast one.
It's not the internet's fault. If it weren't that, it would be something else. It's not the internet changing the way our brains work or altering our relationships. Maybe it's a harder habit to break because of its built-in reward system. I'll grant it that. But bottom line, it's not the internet that's the problem. It's you. It's me.
So: no breaking the simple rules. That's the first rule.
What's the other thing I learned? I've already forgotten. But this bit above. It matters.
The internet as addiction is a true thing. Here's why. If you agree to write for an hour each morning before internet or email, then you have to be absolute about that. One hundred percent. No deviating at all. You can't say, Oh, I'll just *look* at the headlines here on this other computer where I'm not planning to write anyway. You can't say, Oh, I'll just peek to see whether I have any incoming messages -- and then, upon finding them, you can't say, I'll just *read* them; as long as I don't reply to them I am doing okay. Or, I'll just answer this *one* because it's important and I can't expect to have all my business hung up on whether I get my work done this morning first. I'll peek at Facebook but not post anything. I'll peek again. And read this one article. And follow this link. And explore this new writer. And answer another email. And take care of that one thing I've been meaning to do for days and if it doesn't get done now, then it never will.
Now it's 10:44 and you haven't written. And the rest of your day is waiting. It really IS like having one drink. You cannot have even one. You cannot check email. You cannot look at a screen. You cannot break the rules even a little because a tiny little break is the same as a vast one.
It's not the internet's fault. If it weren't that, it would be something else. It's not the internet changing the way our brains work or altering our relationships. Maybe it's a harder habit to break because of its built-in reward system. I'll grant it that. But bottom line, it's not the internet that's the problem. It's you. It's me.
So: no breaking the simple rules. That's the first rule.
What's the other thing I learned? I've already forgotten. But this bit above. It matters.