Self-Control - Computer Time
Why browse Reddit, Facebook, or Google News or play Minecraft or watch movies when there are other things that I should be doing? Why do I have so much trouble sometimes sticking to my plan?
What is the problem here? Mostly, it's procrastination. I have a project that needs to be done or housework or homework or anything that I'd rather not do right now but it's important to do, so my mind automatically wanders to try and escape doing it in the moment. Sometimes it's legitimate because I want to see if anyone has answered a question that I posted or reach out to someone about something important, but usually what should take one minute winds up taking fifteen. Sometimes there are things that come to mind and I think, "oh, I should post that thought online," and that gets me off track. Lastly, sometimes I feel like I "deserve" a break, so I just decide to heck with it, I'm going to play video games or browse the news because I just did x, y, and z. It's not so much that doing any of these things in and of itself is the problem. The problem is when these things take the place of something important that I should be doing. The problem is in not having the self control to say, "STOP," or "DON'T DO IT," and then actually listen to myself.
What's the problem?
- Procrastination
- Posting thoughts
- Checking responses
- Entertainment break
- Doing something when I know I shouldn't
- Spending more time because I'm not stopping
What is the solution? Well obviously to spend less time and not do it as often. Take for example the last two days where I've stayed at the school an extra 30-45 minutes because I got on Reddit and Facebook at the end of the day. Now, it's after the final bell has rung, and I'm not on the clock anymore, so it's not like I'm wasting time when I should legally be working. But instead of doing my clean-up routine and going home earlier, for whatever reason I decide to check in to the virtual online world of human interaction, and I always get hooked. So obviously one solution is to just not do it at that time.
Sidetracked. Last week I wasn't very active online. I didn't post much, I didn't respond to much. When I checked in to Facebook or Reddit, there weren't any responses for me to check or make. This week, Monday night I think, I decided to make a bunch of posts and now it's like I'm feeling the urge to always check and see if there are responses. So the less I post, the less urge I have to check. Maybe I should limit my posts to things that are really important to me. Sometimes I'll see things that I want to comment on, but maybe I should think twice about posting because that's just going to start up the cycle again.
The other thing is that I do enjoy doing those things, so it's not like I want to cut them out of my life completely. I think I just need to find a more appropriate time to use them. And maybe I can use them less, like (God forbid!) I only check Facebook/Reddit every OTHER day instead of multiple times per day.
What's the solution?
- Forbidden at school
- Time restrictions
- Every other day
- Limit interaction
What are the warning signs? Obviously any time that the thought crosses my mind, that should be a warning sign. Better than that, when the thought crosses my mind, I should instead of ignoring it plan for a better time to follow through with it, like I did with writing this blog post. The other triggers are especially at the end of the day for me and right after dinner. For whatever reason, those seem to be the most likely times when I'll try to have a little entertainment break that turns into a long session. The other thing is when I've made a post, that my brain is always thinking about it and I'm always wanting to check and see who has responded. I need to get over the idea of responding to them or looking for their answers ASAP and just be patient to find a better time, like at night time or even during the weekend.
What are the warning signs?
- In the morning
- During prep periods
- After school ends
- Right after dinner
- Bedtime
Plan of action? Forbid it from school, even checking quick responses or the news. Especially be careful right when the bell rings to follow through on my afternoon routine and then leave ASAP. Also be careful right after dinner when I should either play with the kids or help with dishes. Be aware of the urge to post something or check something, and just write it down on paper so I can find a more appropriate time to follow through, if the urge was that important it will still be there later. If it wasn't then I just saved myself the trouble anyway. Finally, be really careful of staying up past 9:00, especially on Monday nights when I get back from rehearsal. That's the time when I'm most likely to blow it and drink a bunch of beer and stay up until midnight, which really hurts the rest of my week.
Okay, good luck to me! No more Facebook/Reddit/Google News at school, and always try to find a better time when the urge arises. That's all!
Wow, habits are hard to break, I guess. Yesterday, I had to plan out kindergarten classes at 11:00 but for whatever reason I decided to go on Reddit and wound up spending about 20 minutes looking at something totally unrelated to what I was doing. So even just one day after making my plan of action, I fell through So now what?
Well I guess the one thing that I don't want to do is feel all sorry for myself or make some big deal out of it. I messed up! There's no reason to go punishing myself. In fact, the punishment was part of the whole situation - I was really stressed out because of it when I didn't have my lesson plans done and I had to cancel a student's private lesson because of my own decisions.
I guess the best thing to do is to just chalk it up as a mistake or a bad decision and just try to have less of those going forward. It was no big deal even though at the same time it was a bad deal.
What is the problem here? Mostly, it's procrastination. I have a project that needs to be done or housework or homework or anything that I'd rather not do right now but it's important to do, so my mind automatically wanders to try and escape doing it in the moment. Sometimes it's legitimate because I want to see if anyone has answered a question that I posted or reach out to someone about something important, but usually what should take one minute winds up taking fifteen. Sometimes there are things that come to mind and I think, "oh, I should post that thought online," and that gets me off track. Lastly, sometimes I feel like I "deserve" a break, so I just decide to heck with it, I'm going to play video games or browse the news because I just did x, y, and z. It's not so much that doing any of these things in and of itself is the problem. The problem is when these things take the place of something important that I should be doing. The problem is in not having the self control to say, "STOP," or "DON'T DO IT," and then actually listen to myself.
What's the problem?
- Procrastination
- Posting thoughts
- Checking responses
- Entertainment break
- Doing something when I know I shouldn't
- Spending more time because I'm not stopping
What is the solution? Well obviously to spend less time and not do it as often. Take for example the last two days where I've stayed at the school an extra 30-45 minutes because I got on Reddit and Facebook at the end of the day. Now, it's after the final bell has rung, and I'm not on the clock anymore, so it's not like I'm wasting time when I should legally be working. But instead of doing my clean-up routine and going home earlier, for whatever reason I decide to check in to the virtual online world of human interaction, and I always get hooked. So obviously one solution is to just not do it at that time.
Sidetracked. Last week I wasn't very active online. I didn't post much, I didn't respond to much. When I checked in to Facebook or Reddit, there weren't any responses for me to check or make. This week, Monday night I think, I decided to make a bunch of posts and now it's like I'm feeling the urge to always check and see if there are responses. So the less I post, the less urge I have to check. Maybe I should limit my posts to things that are really important to me. Sometimes I'll see things that I want to comment on, but maybe I should think twice about posting because that's just going to start up the cycle again.
The other thing is that I do enjoy doing those things, so it's not like I want to cut them out of my life completely. I think I just need to find a more appropriate time to use them. And maybe I can use them less, like (God forbid!) I only check Facebook/Reddit every OTHER day instead of multiple times per day.
What's the solution?
- Forbidden at school
- Time restrictions
- Every other day
- Limit interaction
What are the warning signs? Obviously any time that the thought crosses my mind, that should be a warning sign. Better than that, when the thought crosses my mind, I should instead of ignoring it plan for a better time to follow through with it, like I did with writing this blog post. The other triggers are especially at the end of the day for me and right after dinner. For whatever reason, those seem to be the most likely times when I'll try to have a little entertainment break that turns into a long session. The other thing is when I've made a post, that my brain is always thinking about it and I'm always wanting to check and see who has responded. I need to get over the idea of responding to them or looking for their answers ASAP and just be patient to find a better time, like at night time or even during the weekend.
What are the warning signs?
- In the morning
- During prep periods
- After school ends
- Right after dinner
- Bedtime
Plan of action? Forbid it from school, even checking quick responses or the news. Especially be careful right when the bell rings to follow through on my afternoon routine and then leave ASAP. Also be careful right after dinner when I should either play with the kids or help with dishes. Be aware of the urge to post something or check something, and just write it down on paper so I can find a more appropriate time to follow through, if the urge was that important it will still be there later. If it wasn't then I just saved myself the trouble anyway. Finally, be really careful of staying up past 9:00, especially on Monday nights when I get back from rehearsal. That's the time when I'm most likely to blow it and drink a bunch of beer and stay up until midnight, which really hurts the rest of my week.
Okay, good luck to me! No more Facebook/Reddit/Google News at school, and always try to find a better time when the urge arises. That's all!
Wow, habits are hard to break, I guess. Yesterday, I had to plan out kindergarten classes at 11:00 but for whatever reason I decided to go on Reddit and wound up spending about 20 minutes looking at something totally unrelated to what I was doing. So even just one day after making my plan of action, I fell through So now what?
Well I guess the one thing that I don't want to do is feel all sorry for myself or make some big deal out of it. I messed up! There's no reason to go punishing myself. In fact, the punishment was part of the whole situation - I was really stressed out because of it when I didn't have my lesson plans done and I had to cancel a student's private lesson because of my own decisions.
I guess the best thing to do is to just chalk it up as a mistake or a bad decision and just try to have less of those going forward. It was no big deal even though at the same time it was a bad deal.
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