Last night this question made me realize the same thing that @dynamicduo mentioned: that I spend all my time on the computer, and never get anything done. Last night I said I’d turn off the computer for the night and go read. I kind of succeeded. I did not turn off the computer, but I only came back to it twice, and that was to look up the definitions of a few words.
Two years ago I came to the conclusion that everything on television was garbage, and that it was a waste of my time to spend hours every day in front of it. Rather easily, I stopped watching TV. Since that day I have watched, I can safely say, less than 20 hours of television—what I used to watch in two weeks.
The trouble is, I started spending all of my time on the internet. I’m starting to see that this isn’t working; I’m wasting as much time as I ever have. The difference here is that I can’t simply give up the internet the way I gave up television. The internet is too useful a thing. I simply have to monitor myself to make sure I’m not wasting hours and hours here. That will be difficult, since time floats by without my notice when I’m on the computer.
I go on the computer when I have nothing better to do. Last night I gave myself a purpose; I was going to read a book. Hopefully it will be as easy to cut down time-wasting on the computer as to clearly decide to do something else.
I’ll always find a new distraction, but it’s a cycle.