Screen time

November 19th prompt for the NaBloPoMo challenge – How much of the day are you plugged in?  Do you consciously set aside offline time or does it happen whenever it happens? 

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I spend FAR too much time plugged in.  Could my lack of love/social life have anything to do with that?  Of course!  Does that make it any more excusable?  Not really; it’s just a lame excuse. 

I’m on my computer at work all day which really isn’t avoidable since I do have to make a living.  Do I have to be glued to my smart phone at lunch time checking out Facebook, Instagram, Twitter……..? No, not really, I just enjoy it.  I usually spend half my lunch hour reading then the rest on my phone.  These things help me escape my job for just a little while and serve to reboot my brain for the afternoon. 

Of course, I do go online when I’m home once I’ve gotten supper out of the way (yeah, okay, sometimes before that…..).  There are some Facebook games that are better on my big screen than on my phone, not to mention updates to my blog.  This NaBloPoMo challenge has certainly had me spending far more time on my blog than I ever have which is probably better for my mind and soul than Candy Crush (which I finally had to delete because it was stressing me out so much!).  I’ve even started to do a bit more shopping online too with Christmas coming up.  Human interaction in a real store is highly overrated  ;) 

I wish that I could say that I had the will power to set specific limits on my screen time and the ability to stick to them.  I’m not known for my will power, you see.  I really just tend to drift away when I’ve hit my own natural limit.  Sometimes that means hours of (non-work) screen time and sometimes it’s half an hour.   

I know that this doesn’t set the best example for the kids.  As a matter of fact, if I’m going to be honest, it’s a “mommy-fail” on my part but I have enough other “mommy-wins” on my side that I’m not going to beat myself up (too much) about it. 

There are many things that I can – and should – consider for New Year’s resolutions since we are coming to that time of year so very quickly and this is one of them.  I’ve made some positive changes in my life over the last couple of years or so and need to consider what the next step in my evolution should be.  This is a blog post that I promise to publish before the end of 2013.  Will less screen time make the list?  Maybe…… 

Kat