If You Don’t Spend Your Time, It Will Spend You
If you don’t find a way to spend your time, your time will spend you. And then you’ll go broke. And then you’ll be living in a van … down by the river.
If you spend any amount of time online, either for your job or for leisure, you know how easy it is to get zapped up into the nooks and crannies of the intertubes. There seems to be a movement in the Church (when multiple people in different states start hitting on the same theme, usually the Spirit is up to something) to lead out in learning how to boundary our time online.
- Kem Meyer says that consumers aged 18 – 26 are spending more time using the Internet (12.2 hours per week) than watching TV (10.6 hours per week).
- Rhett Smith is perpetually challenging Christians to set boundaries online and live by them.
- Anne Jackson had a killer post on boundaries and margins yesterday where she outlined what her online schedule will look like.
Here’s a portion of what Anne wrote:
Online Sabbath. Once a week (it’s looking like Saturday) I will be completely unplugged. I will not be checking email, Twitter, Facebook, whatever. If my computer is on, the only thing open is Word so I can work on writing. One day a week, completely computer free.
That’s wisdom. Being “unplugged” once a day, every week, is fast becoming my favorite day of the week. No blips, no bleeps, no Twitter, no email. Nothing but “radio silence.”
I’m formulating boundaries of my own because, as I posted last week, discipline usually leads to the most creative solutions. Have you ever found yourself thinking you need to spend less time online? If so, what are you doing about it?
Incredible… I actually started having a "Sabbath" offline about a month ago, and it has been amazing. I actually spend time with the kids and get stuff done around the house. I know my wife appreciates it as well.
I just started getting into the blog world, and if I didn't have that day offline, I would have become totally consumed. I had actually thought about this topic being my next post. I may still do that and will definitely refer back to you.
Thanks Tony… Make sure you check out Kem, Rhett, and Anne as well. They offer some very practical advice for this stuff! Let me know what you find….
I need to pray for the self-control to be able to do this. It is difficult for a micro-manger like myself to sever myself from that, especially being a student for fear (usually unwarranted) of missing emails from professors or something. Maybe I am just justifying my internet-addiction in my head?? Some advice would be great. Thanks again Justin.
Read Anne's post… I think she does a really good job of laying out some very practical guidelines for people!
In all honesty, I should probably be online more. I don't take care of my online endeavours very well. I'd really rather be doing something else most days.
Interesting… So you're saying you need to spend MORE time online? I like that… Are you saying that online endeavors are a necessary evil for you?
Well, I have a couple of blogs that I should post more than I do. I have a couple of domains that I've purchased for other sites, that I should create – they've sat a while. I should create a new blog template, etc, etc, etc. I always seem to find other things to do.
I would be fine if I turned off my Facebook updates and only checked my email. I run into the most trouble when I go onto Facebook…whole hours…gone…