Who needs friends, or enemies, when you have computers like these?

I love my laptop. And I mean, really REALLY love! I recently realised how much I use it, and what I use it for.

• social networking (facebook and twitter) 
• watching videos- filofax videos, music videos and, of course, the ubiquitous cat videos! (youtube)
• reading blogs, mainly filofax ones
• looking at pictures of things I like- filofaxes, other stationery etc (flickr, google images)
• the news (BBC news website)
• watching TV (BBC iplayer, ITV player, 4OD etc)
• listening to music (itunes, spotify, youtube)
• learning general knowledge about random things I hear throughout the day and want to know more about (wikipedia)
• word processing etc (Microsoft Office software)
• storing and looking at my digital photos
• playing games (Sims 3, Pharaoh, silly internet games)

And lots, LOTS more stuff that I can't even think of right now!!

I couldn't live without my laptop. It does everything for me. I have a smartphone, which does quite a lot, but not everything that I need it to do, and I think I would feel the same if I bought a tablet. Recently my friend had a break-in and her laptop was stolen- I would be distraught if this happened to me!! I back it up frequently, but I would still be heartbroken. I don't think I could go 3 days without going on my computer!

So my laptop is my best friend, right?

Hmm... maybe not!

I spend FAR too much time on my computer! It is the first thing I use in the morning and the last thing I use at night. In the morning I turn it on, put some music on using spotify, and start up the internet, with these webpages in this order:

• Facebook
• Uni email
• Philofaxy
• Hotmail email
• Twitter

Then I would quickly check on flickr and youtube to see if any new Filofax things have been added overnight, and maybe ebay to see if any bargain filofaxes are ending soon or newly listed. 

Catching up on each of those things takes me a while- together, I can spend from 30 mins, up to even 1 hour 30 mins, just reading the new stuff that has been loaded overnight on those websites. Not to mention those new sites that I find through my standard websites- new blog posts and cool things that I hear about from people suggesting sites on facebook, twitter, philofaxy etc.

Then I can go for a couple of hours away from my laptop, but by early afternoon I will be on my computer again, and suddenly it will be 5pm and I've wasted the afternoon! I manage to spend the late afternoon and early evening doing some other stuff, mainly to make up for the time I have wasted, and then we have dinner, and I might stay downstairs with my parents for a couple more hours without my laptop. But by 9pm-ish, I would get bored, spend a couple more hours on my computer, because by this stage twitter conversations are really interesting, with both EU, UK and US philofaxers being online at the same time. Then my dad puts on some rubbish TV, so I try to find something interesting to occupy me- I manage to find tonnes of blogs to read, and videos to watch on youtube- which takes me all the way up to bedtime, and I end up laying in bed, with my laptop on!! 

And then tomorrow it all starts again!

So I spend wayyyyy too much time on my computer everyday. It distracts me from practically everything I need to do! It's also a way to procrastinate too, when I don't want to do my boring chores! I literally have to drag myself away from my laptop! 

I think there is a bigger problem for me- I don't use the fun stuff I enjoy doing as a reward for doing my to-dos; instead, I do my fun stuff first, and try to fit my to-dos around them- and because I don't have a lot of time left in the day once I have spent many hours on my laptop, I don't have enough time to do my chores and to-dos!

I think I'm going to have to find a way to stop going on my computer so much, and to use my fun stuff as a reward instead. I will probably write a list in my filo of blog posts I've found to read, new youtube videos I've found, etc etc, and then after I finish my to-dos for that day, I can sit down and have fun.  

What do you guys do to stop going on your computers so much? Do you find it hard to stop doing what you want to do, and start doing what you need to do?

How to avoid internet distractions and procrastinations

I get terribly distracted from what I'm supposed to be doing- I say that I have the attention span of a gnat! So having the internet available nearly all the time is my downfall. Facebook, twitter, online tv channels... they're either on all the time, or I go back to them every 5 minutes while I'm supposed to be working.
I said this on twitter once and someone referred me to a piece of software called Freedom, the different variations of which are usable for both Mac and PC. It blocks all internet access for a certain period of time that you choose. There's a free trial that you can download, where you can try it out 3 times to see if you like it. After the free trial, the software costs $10 for unlimited use.
Then I found another piece of software called Cold Turkey. I think it was designed as social network-blocking software, but you can choose which websites to block or not to block, and you can add more websites than they suggest- I added BBC iplayer, ITV player etc, philofaxy of course!!! (I get so easily distracted on there!!), flikr etc, as well as the ubiquitous twitter, facebook, ebay etc. I love how it is so customisable- instead of blocking the internet completely like Freedom does, it blocks only what you tell it to, so you will still have access to your email, search engines, online dictionaries etc! Perfect. You choose the time it blocks your internet access for, so you could have it for as little or as long as you like. And the best thing? It's FREEEEEEEE!!! There's a pay-for option, which is only $2, but I don't see much difference between the pay and non-pay options.
I've downloaded Cold Turkey and I'm going to use it to stop me getting distracted over the next few months finishing my MA, and I will continue to use it through my PhD! :D