Technology is a powerful tool, but it also can be a distracting time-waster. I have been honored to use this tool to not only help organize my life in many ways, to maintain this blog ministry, but I have also experienced its powerful drawing nature. I have seen the minutes and hours tick by as I have been distracted with reading yet another post, or another update, or researching another product. I have noticed a growing trend, especially among stay-at-home mom’s to be sucked into the world of social media. It may be that we are taking care of little ones all day long and we desperately need an outlet. The enemy likes to draw our attention away from doing Kingdom work (and that surely includes your mothering, wifely, and household duties), and waste precious time.
I have had an IPhone for the past two years. It has been very useful for maintaining my schedule, organizing various aspects of my life, and keeping up to date on so many things. Over the last few months, the Lord has been convicting me that it was time to let it go. Why? It had certainly increased my productivity, but it had also become a distraction. Because I had to keep my phone near me most of the day, my temptation was to frequently check email, twitter, facebook, and other updates. It was a hard decision to make, but when the time came to say goodbye…I did feel incredibly free. Sometimes it requires drastic steps to let go of these strongholds.
Here are some practical suggestions that I have found helpful in reigning in this tiger and using the Internet in a wise manner. We women love connecting with people, and so much of that now is taking place online through facebook and twitter. You view someone status and then you get sucked in to view their pictures, which leads you to another’s profile, and it goes on.
- Limit your friends.
As much as I’d love to be friends with everyone that may request it, I must be honest with myself. Do I have time to read all their updates, status reports, pictures? No. We cannot possibly maintain all these friendships. There is no race to gain the most friends, it does not show how popular you are. Only chose those friends that are truly friends.
- Limit your status updates to once a day.
This applies to twitter and facebook. Who wants to read your 10th tweet for the day? Sorry. I stop following those who tweet too repeatedly, or who re-tweet everything out there. Stick with the important stuff. Truly evaluate whether or not you want to communicate something. IS this really that beneficial to re-tweet? Is this really going to encourage or bless someone? A highlight in your day is awesome, but not every passing detail.
- Chose your favorite 5 blogs.
I used to be subscribed to 30 different blogs. I finally realized I always skipped half of them. So then why are they still cluttering my RSS feed? Select the unsubscribe button. Ask yourself: does this blog really inspire me? Does it cause me to compare? I weeded out 25 and stuck with my favorite 5 blogs. So yes, if that means unsubscribing from PH, than I encourage you to do so. My goal is not to get the most subscribers, but rather help you weed out distractions, and if this blog is one…I want to encourage you to remove it.
- Use a timer for your computer time.
I found it very helpful to designate a specific hour during the day that could be my computer time. And yes, I aim to limit it to 1 1/2 hours and that being mostly during the children’s naptime period (pregnancy requires mommy to take a short nap myself to maintain my joy and energy!). I utilize Online Stopwatch for 15 minute intervals. 15 minutes on emails, 15 minutes on social media, 15 minutes responding to comments, and the final 30 minutes on blogging. It’s hard to write a post in 30 minutes, but that is my goal. This may tweak a bit with each day, but it is my guideline. Make a plan for your computer time and guard it carefully.
And one final thing to mention on this line…May I encourage you to keep your computer away from your bedroom. I try to store my laptop in the farthest location away from my bedroom and morning activities. Otherwise, it is too easy to check my email. Are you like me who imagines I can do it ‘real quick’? I also believe your bedroom should be a sacred place for you and your husband.
To read my thoughts on Television and movies, check out my Simplifying Entertainment post.
Now it’s your turn…how do you seek to guard your computer time? What practical tips can you offer for protecting against it from becoming a time-waster?
This is great! This topic is always something on my mind – technology boundaries. I am one who checks email “real quick” all day. I have a macbook, so it moves around the house. I told my husband to never get me an iphone!
He has one…
You are a beautiful Godly woman. Thank you for taking the TIME to write, share and inspire!
I love the “real friends” only on social media. I regularly go through and delete friends. Great Wisdom! Your blog is in my top 5!
Thank you – this was great and just what I needed to read today. I just bought my first iPhone a week ago and already I can see how annoying it is to my family. I have been around people who are constantly texting and checking email and I always vowed that I would never be one, but now that I have the same technology, it is really sucking me into its darkness. I’m going to walk away from the computer RIGHT NOW and go spend some time with my kiddies… hopefully not beating them.
Hi, I linked here from OrgJunkie. These are some great ideas, thanks! Another option for many smart phone users who aren’t ready to give it up completely is to turn off automatic updating of email etc and use manual updating only. This way you don’t get notifications telling you how many e-mails are waiting for you throughout the day.
Amen !!!! Great post and great tips:-)
what do you do when people keep requesting to be your friend and you don’t want to be impolite but have no desire to have barely acquaintances on Facebook as friends?
I honestly block them completely.
Another option is to just “hide” them… if you don’t care whether they see your page as a friend, but you don’t want to see their updates.
My boyfriend and I both refuse to get iPhones, Droids, or anyting like them. The iPhone specifically because we don’t like Apple or its business techniques, and all of those types of phones in general because we know what it’s like to be around people who have them. A few of our friends are able not to be obnoxious about their usage in front of other people, but several of them need to have them surgically removed from their hands or something. They’re just constantly checking and updating and responding and texting nonstop, even when you’re talking to them, to the point that there’s no real point in hanging out with them in person anymore because they’re rarely ever actually there mentally.
Thank you so much for this. Technology is an area where Satan can really get me distracted and quickly loose hours of my day. It’s nice to know that there are others fighting the same battle. Thanks so much for the tips!
WOW. I think it is a “God thing” when you get hit over and over with the same message. I haven’t been to your blog in a month–it is on my favorites, but I have also been sucked into other things. So I randomly went to it today only to find this very convicting post. I recently left the workforce to stay at home (at least until I find something part time to pay the bills) and I found myself lost without the blackberry. This went on for a couple of months; I had an old school cell phone with an archaic plan that even limited text messages. Recently, we grouped up with others to get a better deal, and it became possible to have a blackberry again. I now find myself getting sucked into the same old habits. I went through a withdrawal when I “lost” the blackberry after leaving work. It is like I’m back on the crack–crackberry that is. *sigh* This is a real temptation, not just for me, but for many people. As you have said so well, it is a great time waster. Now my hubby and I both have one, and I’ve got to joke that soon we will be texting each other rather than talking. Thank you for today’s post and for being a blessing. I think I just got a kick in the pants kind of conviction!
Thanks for this post Lindsay! Your blog ( I am happy to say) is now one of the eight blogs that I read. I have an iPod and it can be so easy to “just check” FB, email, and blogs. One of the things I’m really trying to do is only going online once or twice a day to check email and things like that.Thank-you so much for your website, it truly is a blessing to me. God Bless!
Lindsay,
I really needed to hear this today. My husband and I were actually having a conversation about iPhones last night in the car on our way home from our date. Neither one of us have one, but my entire immediate family does, and I have been tempted to get one for quite some time. It was so good to talk to my husband about why he really doesn’t want us to get an iPhone. His reasons are pure and I respect his decision, but the temptation to get sucked into the latest technology can be difficult.
So, thanks for your encouragement! It’s nice to have another Christian woman out there who shares similar struggles. You have such a nice way of putting your opinion without offending.
Blessings to you and yours and congrats on the new baby coming
Hannah
Thank you so much for this post! I too have been convicted especially the past couple of weeks about my “online time”. It gets distracting and I find myself ignoring my kids, not getting everything done around the house, etc. BUT, I do work from home so I can’t get rid of all my online time/ipod touch, etc. completely. So my solution that I started last week and has been working is that I now have “Facebook Fridays.” It’s the only day I allow myself on facebook to catch up with friends. And Fridays is actually a busy day so I don’t have much time to spend anyway! Works out well so far… I was finding myself spending time checking twitter and facebook in the morning when I could be using that time as my morning devotional time!
Blessings, thank you for your blog!
Jessica
Jessica- FB Fridays, I love it! What a great idea. I am going to give it a try! Thanks
Insightful post! I have been dealing with these “time wasters” like so many of the other ladies that have already commented. Praying God can show me what to weed out. Thanks as always for a post that conveys to us what God is speaking to your heart!
Thank you – the Lord has been working on me in the very same way over the last several months. I unsubscribed to all blogs except 2 – Passionate Homemaking and A Holy Experience. They have honestly been the only ones that have truly encouraged me to be more like Christ. I also blocked all news sites on my computer and since we don’t have a TV I rely totally on my husband to be the filter for news for our family – it is so very freeing. The next thing for me is to combine my Facebook account with my husband’s and allow him to be the family filter for our social media as well.
Such wisdom! Thank you for this reminder and encouragement!
The simple life truly is the full life!
Great post! My husband and I dumped our cell phone plan (we never even made it to the high tech kind), got an internet home phone, and have a track phone number for emergencies that we don’t give out to people. It has been so freeing. Our culture has created an expectation that we are supposed to be available 24/7 just because we CAN be and it is just plain unhealthy. Not everyone needs to take the drastic step we did, but for us, it was wonderful. We stopped waisting money and no longer have to deal with feeling bad about not answering or returning phone calls when we’re spending time with other people, or whatever we may be needing to focus on. I had gotten to the point where I hated the phone and now I don’t.
I’ll have to try your timer idea for the computer. I definitely check email too much. I don’t do well with giving myself a regimen though but rather just looking to the Lord every moment for guidance in every detail and resisting the temptation when I know it’s not the right thing to do.
Thank you for posting this! I have really been thinking about this lately and how much time I waste online. I keep telling myself I will just get on Facebook once a day, or “quickly” check my emails, and “oh, I will only be online for 15 minutes”. The next thing I know, an hour has passed! I know I need to have a plan, and it has to be more than just “in my head”. Thanks for the link to the online timer. That will really help! And thanks for being such an encouragement! Your blog is one of the few I will keep on my list. God bless!
Excellent article! Mom’s aren’t realizing the endless hours they’re using on Facebook and reading thirty different blogs a week! I personally have never had this amount of spare time on my hands. One of the reasons I love your blog is that you don’t post everyday and your post usually aren’t very long. I value your heart and your love for the Lord! You are set apart from other blogging sites because I know you want to protect your time and your family against technology wasters. Keep up the EXCELLENT work! I praise you in your encouragement and speaking God’s truth into others lives and always doing it so compassionately. Truly you have the heart of Christ!
thanks for the post. I have been thinking about the same exact thing in regards to the IPhone. I think my two cents would be for the mothers who have failed in this area; and possibly seeing how they’ve neglected taking care of their children amidst replacing technology in place of conversing & interacting with their kids…there is Jesus wanting to take away that shame, those hours that cannot be taken back and allow us to lean into him to walk in righteous and redemption. I know I have failed, I have neglected, I have not wanted this job all the time and I don’t want to simply “settle” by plugging into something else to fill the void. I want to worship Jesus in this role I’ve been given.
Thank you for taking the time to write this! As its been noted above the computer does suck you in! I have realized this the last week or two that I really need to limit my time. So thank you for that! Its the push I need
I think it is good to limit your times and you will be more productive with that time! My husband is a computer animator and is always on the computer and I just sit behind him in the couch doing the same. It definitely hinders our communication.
We took the T.V. out when my son was a month or so old. I hated it because it was a distraction and we would not talk when my husband got home, but listen to the news or whatever. Sure these things can be used for good and educational purposes but for the most part, you end up waisting your day away!
I hope I can get better at this and limit my time on the computer and be able to clean my house more efficiently and have a better relationship with my husband.
THANK YOU!
Great post! Thank you for the online stopwatch link!
Dropping my iphone in the toilet was the best thing that happened to me! (much to my husband’s dismay!)
I was convicted about a year ago with how much time I spent at the computer desk with my back towards the rest of my family. Being a homeschool mom, it was easy for me to just do a quick “check,” but what I realized was that I was going into a place without my protection. Everytime I began my day checking email and facebook updates, I felt empty inside.
It’s taken a lot of dedication, and at times I fail, but I get back up, dust myself off, and move forward. The computer cannot come on (and I have been facebook-FREE for nearly a year now), until I have been in the Word and we have completed school.
We recently got free smart phones (to which I had major judgements), and to my surprise, it’s really helped to cut down on my computer time. Again, I cannot check emails, texts, etc. until we’re done with school and after I have spent time with the Lord. Days are so much fuller and I feel so freed. I just have an addictive personality and I couldn’t handle facebook.
Thank you for your amazing blog, and while I am a bit older, it’s awesome to see you learning and growing in the Lord and desiring healthy natural things for your family the way God intended. We are to grow with the times, but we don’t have to be ruled by them.
You rock!!
One last note, in the realm of technology, I was also convicted of just how incredibly rude I was being to my children (for YEARS) when I would strap them into the car and then use drive time to catch up on phonecalls. I wouldn’t do that if someone were sitting next to me while I was driving, so why was I doing that to my kids? And what value was I putting on their lives by ignoring them and not to mention jeopordizing their lives while being distracted on the phone?
I tend to be rather hard headed, but am thankful to serve a God full of mercy and grace. I’m getting it…one step at a time…I’m getting it. ;o)
Thanks Cathy about this one. It’s a very thoughtful idea to consider for myself.
oops! Courtney, not Cathy!
Thank you for posting this today! I needed to read it! God has been putting it on my heart lately to trim down on my technology time. I only now just put texting on my phone because it is easier for me to get a hold of my hubby that way because of his job. However I won’t put internet access or anything like that on there, but more specifically my hubby and kids always tease me about “mom is plugged into her laptop again” which tells me I am spending way too much time on there. I like the timer idea! Thanks again! This blog would be one of my top five to keep by the way. I refer to it often for your recipes, tips, and health tips.
How funny that I would read this post today. I have been feeling convicted about my technology time, specifically online. A few other blogs have similar posts that spoke the same conviction to me, even if not directly like your article. So, I’m done. I got the clear message today from God. I opened a new FB account with family and only those friends who I want to generate stronger friendships and am going to setup LeechBlock or the timer you suggested. Thank you for sharing your time online too – as a guideline. It won’t be easy, but I know I have to do it. Thank you!
I recently posted on the same topic! Check it out here: http://angela.eternaloutlook.com/2010/11/connected-but-not-disconnected.html
Blessings,
Angela
Thank you for posting this. I too have felt this powerful draw and boy, does it distract me from what’s most important and dillute my attention that should be focused on my children. These are great tips. Thank you, thank you for your inspiring posts. It really makes me wish we were neighbors and could just chat over the fence.
I really appreciated this post – thank you so much for sharing it! As I type I’m downloading the stopwatch, too. Yay!
I love this post! This is something I’ve been struggling with for awhile now, and would take a break from reading blogs (ones that really did nothing to build me up, unlike this one), and love how I felt and the time I had to do more purposeful things, and then I get sucked back in! This morning, (ironically, before I read this), I added a sticky note to my laptop with these three reminders on it:
1.How much I regret when I waste my time
2. God’s incredible love and plan for me-don’t take that for granted.
3. Nothing fills my tank a part from God.
So although I may FEEL like wasting so much time on the Internet because I am tired, want to relax, etc. that’s not truly helping me, or anyone else. And I totally got caught up in the comparison thing on facebook last night. I knew I should’ve just gone to bed, but I stayed up looking at pictures of acquaintances, thinking how I’d like to be thinner like them. So sad, right? Let’s stop just knowing what to do, and truly start acting on it!
His strength and power is available to us, and His grace is sufficient!
I totally agree!!
I’m going to log off now and shut this thing down
Thank you for this post and especially to all who commented! You have encouraged me and I am ready for a change! Thanks!!
The internet does suck you in! Even if you only go on to check the weather, you end up checking so much more. My new year’s resolution last year was to quit facebook. I finally quit it last March and didn’t check it again until November. Now that I have reactivated it once, it’s hard to stop again. I will be deactivating it again for good. It just sucks you in and you can just surf and surf and surf. I am now also limiting online time an hour a day, and going to try to online go on in the morning and lunchtime (I eat lunch after the kids are napping). Anytime after that, I’m shutting the computer off.
Thanks for the post.
I want to thank you for this. I actually found your blog through a friend who linked this on another friends FB page. Funny, huh? While I can’t get rid of my FB due to living overseas and the need to keep in touch with family and friends, I did hide a lot of people that I don’t know as well or who are overly negative. Thank you. My FB is now much less cluttered and a lot faster to comb through.
Wow…some powerful thoughts…leaving my computer…now
Thank you for this post. I very much needed to read this to reinforce one of my goals for this year, which is to reduce my online time. In the past year, my online time has increased to the point that although I am maintaining my house and child; it is not of the quality that it should be. I could easily spend hours on the computer. I sit down to look up a recipe and 45 minutes later am randomly surfing.
I have chosen to limit my time to 1 hour a day. So far I have done ok, but not nearly what I had hoped. Still feeling the draw! I like the idea for the online stopwatch.
I am culling my blogs today; however, yours is definitely here to stay!
Keep up the good work. PH is absolutely in my top 5 blogs because you consistently encourage me to seek God more. Thank you.
Thank so much for all the wisdom you share about simplifying your life!!!! My husband is a tech crazy web designer, so its very easy for me to get sucked into that world too. I have thought of using the timer idea, and I’m definitely going to start implementing that, today!!!! Yahweh bless you for all you do!
GREAT post!!! This has been on my heart a lot lately, and though I’ve been hearing God telling me I get sucked into the computer too much (facebook is the major distraction for me!!!), it’s TIME I make the changes. My husband and I have already found freedom from cellphones and the texting and email-checking that go along with it (mind you, this had a lot to do with simplifying our finances too!), but the computer is the number one thing that draws me away from time with my family, my home, and the Lord (in spite of the good intention of reading blogs, couponing to save money, etc!). THANK YOU for these practical ways to simplify! I’m going to begin with using the Online Stopwatch you recommended! Thanks!
I find it funny that I felt I needed to check my blogs this morning after doing other business on the computer, and I found this post. my husband and I were talking about how I get so distracted with computer stuff just this morning. God is pulling me today, and I need to follow.
Just a suggestion for you, but when you use up more time for posting on your blog, maybe it takes away from your other time (social networking and email). We do that to our kids for other things – why not follow the same example we’re trying to teach?
Thanks for this post, Lindsay.
For facebook-I’ve removed everyone from my newsfeed that I don’t see on a regular basis. It’s simplified my life without deleting acquaintances. You can do this by hovering over their status and a little x pops up at the right. Click on that x and it will give you the option to remove them from your news feed. I love this feature. It makes Facebook okay for me.
J
Ohhh, I LOVE that idea!
Excellent post. Truly. Something I NEEDED to be reminded of today. It’s been on my heart for awhile, but I’ve been ignoring it. Delaying actually unfollowing/unfriending/unsubscribing on Twitter/Facebook/Google Reader.
Think I’ve got some work to do here while the girls are happily off playing.
I just love all of your hearts, ladies. One thing I noticed that was not discussed here is not only the computer distractions between parents and children, but even husbands and wives. Sometimes I feel I can’t have a conversation with my husband without the laptop in his lap and he is multi-tasking — reading and talking to me at the same time. I often have to ask him to look me in the eyes when we are talking so I know I have his attention. I, too, spend way too much time reading 30 blogs (yep, just checked–30 it is) and then don’t understand where all my time went. We do not have children yet, but we hope to be very soon going to China to adopt 2 babies, sometime within the next months. This is all so beneficial to me because I know I will need to be intentional and establish good habits that reflect giving my time to my children first, never making them feel they have to compete for my attention with a computer. Thank you, everyone, for all the helpful suggestions and for making this topic a priority.
So true on the husbands and wives! I really want to be intentional in our relationship and am trying to help my husband realize the quality is not there when we try to multi-task. Let’s stop what we’re doing, focus for 5-10 minutes so we actually hear and understand one another. I’m guilty of it too but have worked really hard to turn the computer off by 8:00 so we can talk after the kids are in bed.
Excellent post – well thought out. I too have struggled with the bondage that seems to come with modern conveniences. I run an internet business from home, but too many times my “business time” on the computer turns into wasting time.
The Lord has been working in my heart regarding the amount of time watching movies. While we do not have a TV, we watch some movies on our computer, but it has been too much lately.
I also do not like to follow people who update their status with every minute detail. I don’t need to know when they arrived home, what is for dinner, and every thought that crosses their mind. I rarely change my Facebook status, and I only keep my Facebook account for the business page I have.
Thank you for being honest and sharing.
This is so true! I find it so sad that this generation of mothers seems to be increasingly sucked in to social media. I struggle with it myself but until about 3 weeks ago we didn’t have wireless so it was impossible for me to get on the computer with my 11 month old awake… since the computer was in a non babyproofed room.
Now I have my laptop available to me at any time and in spite of my resolutions I have found myself sneaking on more than once for 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there while he is awake. I do NOT want that to be the mother he remembers!
I also grieve that I have spent SO much of his naptime and of my pregnancy wasting time online when I could have been in God’s Word, reading good books, etc. Hours and hours wasted!
I am seeking hard to limit my computer time to 1 hour a day. It’s just not worth spending more time than that for me!
I used to be horrible about this and rejected my husband’s assertions that I was addicted to debating and whatnot on parenting sites. I no longer visit those sites, and I am so much more productive. Now that I have two kids I mostly go online via my phone when I am rocking or nursing baby to sleep. Sometimes after they are asleep for the night I go on to do photo stuff or couponing on the big computer. I do use it a lot to listen to sermon downloads throughout the day. I think technology is good and even increases my fruitfulness when I use it appropriately.
Great post! My husband and I deleted our Facebook last week and I haven’t missed it too much. I can’t imagine how much harder it would be if I had an IPhone. I’ve pretty much resolved not to use a smartphone because I know it would make the internet way more addicting. Thanks for posting!
Lindsay,
I must admit. I was one of those moms. I noticed it being a problem when my kids would ask for something and i would send my oldest to do it. HOW BAD IS THAT. Since I knew something needed to change, I started doing exactly those things you suggest in your blog. I am saying this to encourage. It does work, just keep yourself in check. Prayer is always good. I ask for the Lord to help me each day. It can be very consuming if we let it. This was a great reminder for me, which reminds me I need to go my egg timer just went off. God bless and thanks for the post. Very helpful.
Lindsay,
(
I really enjoyed this post and would love to link it from my blog. I deleted my Facebook account a month or so ago at the spontaneous prompting of the Lord. I had been reading comments on FB and all the while my little girl was wanting me to look at some sewing videos with her. I shut the computer, announced it was ‘time for bed’ and my little girl’s face just melted my heart. I felt the Lord convict me something fierce. I apologized to my little girl and deleted my FB account right then and there.
My children are more important to me than me getting sucked in to reading someone’s 10th comment about a football game in which they are disappointed.
I haven’t missed facebook. I have used the time to honor God and blog more frequently. Thanks for the post. I really appreciate it.
PS This is written from a piano teacher who has to tell her barely-teenager students to stop texting during lessons.
I so agree. My laptop was recently in the shop for almost 2 weeks and I was amazed at how much I accomplished around the house. I am not even on facebook and continue to stay away from it, but blogging and twitter are also a time drain. I am resolved to very much limit my time on the computer now that it is back. Thanks for this post; it has encouraged me in my resolve and also given me some good ideas to help limit online time.
This was great for me to read, and I take it as from the Lord’s hand…. facebook has been a reoccurring problem for me, too. I would muster up the courage to deactivate, but it is far too easy to reactivate! I did see that there is a way to permanently delete your account… you have to deactivate it with the intention of permanently deactivating it, but even then, if you decide within 20 days to reactivate it, it’s as easy as that… I know from experience :-/ I would use the excuse of how people say they enjoy seeing pictures of my little one, etc… my sister pointed out to me how very easy it is to send snapfish albums (or using a number of other online photo websites) to share pictures with family.
Like Carrie, I, too struggle with comparing myself to others- true, that’s a heart issue, but if I am investing time in something that feeds that struggle, it’s time to give it up. I think about the verse that says “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” What a radical command from Jesus…
thank you, Lyndsay and others who shared… I admire how some can use it in moderation and use it merely as a tool to encourage and minister to others. I simply cannot without getting sucked in… not right now anyways.
Blessings to you all… may the Lord give you the strength to act upon your convictions!
Last year my husband and I celebrated and remembered the season of Lent by giving a few things up and adding to our spiritual disciplines. For me, I decided to give up using Facebook for the entire time of Lent. This was VERY hard for me, in fact I was embarrassed and humbled at how badly I wanted to keep it nearby….you know just in case anyone “needed me” or posted any new pictures that they would “want me” to comment on! The time away from using this social network taught me
1) The world goes on without me…I’m fairly certain NO ONE noticed my absence during that time!
2) I was able to not only be more productive, but spend more time in thought and prayer during my housework.
3) I was encouraged to do the best I could each day instead of constantly comparing myself to those “people” who are always posting about all the chores, workouts, craft projects, activities with their kids, meals, and girls nights out they have done that day.
After Lent was over, and I allowed myself to get back on Facebook, it was much easier to only check it or update it once a day and spend much less time looking at everyone else’s.
I appreciate this blog, I only just discovered it about 2 months ago and it has encouraged me tremendously in my homemaking, parenting, and spiritual life! Thank you and God Bless!
This is actually my new years resolution! I am cutting it down to three hours a day (because I work from home and have no kids), stop blogging myself and limit the statuses and pictures I put on the internet (so that my husband and I can share in memories that I don’t necessarily have to share with the entire world). One of the things that helps me is an add-on on Google Chrome called StayFocused. I know there are things like this for other browsers as well as for MAC. StayFocused allows you to put a limit on certain sites throughout the day, and if you change the time at all, it will give you several funny warnings before allowing the change. It definitely helps me to stay focused and not spend so much time on the interwebs!
This is great advice. Simplify for success! Yours is one blog I come back too. Thank you!
xC
I agree with many people, facebook being my biggest technology problem. I haven’t had peace about quitting it for various reasons (hubby agrees), but there are still ways to streamline it. I have hidden the news updates for everyone who is not a reason to be on facebook. I only read the status updates of my family and a couple close friends. This helps, but I’m still waiting for the day when quitting facebook is okay with the Lord for me.
Thank you Lindsay, Colleen and Carrie – I think you may have given me the final push of courage to quit FB! Something that I have been struggling with for a long time now but have been resisting – it has cut into my kid time, work time and family time and yet I continue to jump on everyday.
When I think about all the time I’ve already wasted it makes me sick – so much other important things I could have been doing. I won’t dwell on that but instead think of all the great things I’ll be able to get done and time I’ll be spending with my kids instead…now THAT is something with actual eternal value!
This post REALLY speaks to me. Thank you for sharing it, it’s so good to hear ways to cut down the distraction of being online far too much.
In the end I felt the Lord impressing on my heart that what they may think doesn’t matter in the slightest. So it’s gone and I feel much better.
It’s amazing how something that starts out as purely fun quickly turns into something that sucks us right in and as you say, the hours just fly by in this state of distraction.
I really felt led last week to deactivate my Facebook account. It was simply cutting into my day and my time with my son. Then I felt guilty for spending so much time there and as I was praying I really felt the Lord saying to just get rid of it. I argued a bit of course, But what will my friends think?
Great post.
I went through the same thing a couple weeks ago… With the start of the new year, I had high goals to start reading through the Bible in 2011, start memorizing scripture with our church, and to really grow in my relationship with the Lord and fellow believers. I knew facebook was a big time waster and that I was keeping myself at a distance from those that I really don’t know that well anyway or from people I actually do want to know better (but am scared to actually spend real life time and experiences with!)… so I knew the Lord was leading me to deactivate facebook. I even struggled with wasting time at work on facebook, and I’m a nurse caring for sick people! Not good. I also really struggle with comparing myself to others… their kids, their homes, their jobs, etc. and facebook makes it so easy to compare and become jealous. It had to go!! It is so freeing to be off of it!!!
Like Lindsay did, I also had to ween down my blog subscriptions that were out of control. Even ones I really enjoyed I had to unsubscribe from… and people who tweeted too much or who drew me into more distracting posts/topics. It’s refreshing to hear how humble you (Lindsay) are with even telling us to unsubscribe from YOUR blog if it’s distracting us!
Thanks for this great post! I’m going to look into the online stopwatch and see if that helps me.