Stealing time

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I’m torn about my use of the internet.  I see so many possibilities and yet in an instance it seems that hours can pass.  It is easy to get drawn into living online. So much to read, and see and do. So much to learn and I get drawn in.  With most everything else I live with accepting things “in moderation” but with simply moderation the possibilities don’t seem as alive.  But the internet steals my time.  I resent that. I start to write  or read or create, and then I look at the clock and three hours are gone, just like that. Yet in moderation, the stuff doesn’t get out there. It remains invisible. I don’t see it. In moderation only I’m not sure there is a point to it at all. So I’m struggling to find a balance here.

5 thoughts on “Stealing time”

  1. “I see so many possibilities and yet in an instance it seems that hours can pass”

    That’s the dilemma we all face! We all wrestle with balance. I think the answer lies in the realization that we can’t learn it all and it doesn’t matter! What’s important is that we become part of a network that never sleeps. Our personal learning network should allow us to login at different points and even logout for extended periods. The learning will still happen…

  2. So true that we can’t learn it all and it doesn’t matter. Truly it is the journey that counts in this case, isn’t it. I love that blogging is allowing me to have a wealth of ideas to ponder over. And you’re right, I can log in, mill about, be as involved as I choose and then log out for as long as I like. Nothing really depends on my being there and it all still goes on. I guess that could truly be the beauty of using this kind of blogging network with students. I’m excited about that possibility.

  3. I understand and share the struggle for balance. The potential to learn on the internet is so tempting. At times I can’t get enough, I could (and do) sit for hours looking and finding and searching. But time is precious and it is frustrating to see that so many minutes or hours are gone, especially at the busy stage of life I find myself experiencing right now.

    Fortunately for me (I guess…) I’m forced to moderate my screen time due to the children in my home. I have the strong desire to set a good example for acceptable daily screen time and so the limits to my time online are indirectly enforced in that way. I find it interesting that the desire to gain knowledge about teaching and learning in order to grow as an educator is forcibly limited by my desire to set a good example for the very children that I am most responsible to educate in this world.

  4. Hey Erin, thanks for the comment. Good to see other SFU folks passing by. It an interesting dilemma you bring up, the tension between modeling what you believe to be right (limited screen time) and squelching your own personal desire for more. I have struggled with that as well as I have a young teenage daughter who would much rather be on facebook with her friends than read a book. So I wonder what I’m modeling. To be honest though, I wonder and then I let it go. In reality it sorts itself out. I don’t limit her screen time by any sort of artificial rules but we’ve come to a way to monitor each other. I say to her “you’ve been on the computer too long; come read with me”, though “too long” has never been defined. She complies but inevitably is the next one to turn and tell me “mom you’ve been on the computer too long, come and help me with my homework.” Somehow we make it work.