Withdrawal

Much discussion is going around about withdrawing from the internet for the sake of writing focus.  I probably need to do the same, to a greater extent than I have the past two months. 

 

Sure, my blogging presence has been scanty, and I've only popped into the Forum occasionally, but my activity on Facebook is regular, and I have a "loop" of websites I'll check in all free moments (ranging from local news to LOLcats) that distract my focus and take time that, technically, I could use to write.

 

The most productive I have ever been at work was the month or so they told us our internet usage was being monitored, and we could be fired for too much.  At the time I left my Gmail open all the time, and frequently popped on to other sites to look something up whenever the mood struck.  But I was running scared, so I checked my e-mail only in the morning, at lunch, and while I was pumping (Little Boy was still nursing then).  Then I.T. told us it wasn't real, and we who are salaried wouldn't be as much under focus as long as we were keeping our workload up.  It's been over a year and I've gradually slipped back to my old ways.  But no longer.

 

Game plan: severely restrict my internet time and the sites I'm allowed to visit.  I will remove Google Reader from my Google homepage (I have over 50 subscriptions now) - after all, the posts will still be there for me to read when I'm done - and allow myself on CompuServe, Facebook, BabyCenter, etc. only once a week (Claire's idea).  I will turn off the WiFi on my laptop (Jen's idea)...at least until I hit my daily word goal.

 

I will continue to check in with the 70 Days of Sweat challenge, to keep me moving forward.  And I do have my Group Novel chapter and the November X on CompuServe, but once those are done I'll be pretty scarce.

 

One thing I can't abandon is e-mail.  Call it addiction if you want, but it's also my primary form of communication - with DH while I'm at work, with my brother in Germany, with my family hours away, with you my friends scattered all over the globe.  I will continue to check that daily, though I will attempt to limit the number of times I log in.  If you need to get ahold of me, e-mail.  If you don't have my e-mail, leave a blog comment (those get e-mailed to me).

 

Speaking of the blog, I can post from my e-mail.  That's what I'm doing now.  An active blog usually indicates progress for me, since I will post updates and small snips.  So I'll keep doing that, but try to keep the posts short.

 

Look for pics of my Halloween costume later today, and then we enter the blackout.  I think a lot of us are taking NaNoWriMo seriously; if not the 50K goal at least the spirit of writing intensely.  See you on the other side.  *g*