If you read my other blog, you already know about my recent effort to limit the amount of time I spend on the internet. I'm one week in, and I have to say it was about the best thing I've done for myself in ages. Progress on my latest WIP has doubled, I'm hanging out with my family, watching a little TV, reading books, and doing all kinds of things that lift my spirits and keep me grounded.And one of the best things is that I'm actually discovering I spend more time on the sites and with the people I really do enjoy talking to than I did before. That's because I'm not wasting my internet time clicking around places I've now ruled off limits.
Here are some of the sites that ended up on my chopping block:
Twitter: I've determined that Twitter is the internet on crack. By sheer design of the site, you must stay in constant contact or something important will get buried under mounds of tidbits like, "Off to the store! Think I'm going to buy an artichoke today."
Now, I don't want to offend anyone. I've been guilty of posting trivia like, "Wrote 3 pages today!" on both Twitter AND Facebook, so I'm no better. But really, when one is analyzing the value of their time, is that a piece of information people really need? And when I'm following 1,547 people, most of them romance authors, how many page count updates can I really handle?
Chop!
Review Sites: If Twitter is crack, then review sites are heroin. I had a whole list of book review sites that I used to spend hours pouring through on an almost daily basis. I'd look for new reviews on my stuff, reviews on my friends' books, reviews on books I read, reviews on books I might read. And worse, my mood could often be dictated by what I found, and not even when running across a negative review on my own stuff. If I so much as hated a book then went out to RT and saw it as a Top Pick! I'd spend an hour wondering WTF?? And visa versa.
Then I had to ask myself why I was devoting so much of my time giving a squat what some total stranger thought about a book I read?
Chop Chop!
Industry Sites: I had places like Quill Blog and Publishers Weekly on my list of rounds, as well as Smart Bitches and Dear Author. Now, the last two I still visit in my once-daily round, but other places that report on industry news have been scratched from the list. Really, if it matters to the romance community, SB or DA will pick it up and I can see it there. The rest of it really doesn't, particularly since I don't write ST or mainstream fiction. I write Blaze. Have no immediate desire to write anything but Blaze. So why do I care if Dorchester fired one of their editors? (I made that up BTW--don't freak).
Chop Chop Slash!
Amazon/B&N: These sites are hell because you can take all the Blaze books and sort by bestselling. They also have these ambiguous sales ranks that provide no meaning whatsoever, but that stupid authors like me check on a daily basis to see if mine have gone up or down, and if so, how fast? This is the kind of thing that can drive a sane author nuts, yours truly included.
Chop Chop Blam!
Now, if I go to Amazon it's to buy something and that's it.
So if you were forced to cut your internet time in half, what sites would be on your chopping block? (And don't say Sizzling Pens please! LOL)
11 comments:
I use Twitter only because I follow news sites. I don't check it that often, I am sure those who follow me (why, I don't know) are mad.
Depending on the blog topic, I only check them once now. Then, I'll read everyone's comments the next day.
Did you know they change sales rank on amazon several times a day? My brother wrote a book and I used to annoy him with his 'sales' rank.
I don't surf, so nothing else is really 'on the block'.
Katie
I was very, very tempted to not renew my RWA membership this year, therefore relieving myself of several loops and the anxiety that comes with a constant effort to keep up with all writing sites/blogs lest I miss some important bit of industry news.
But I decided to give it one more year. Sigh.
The rest of my online time is spent taking care of personal business and actually getting things done, so it's not all useless surfing. :-)
I have stayed away from "social networking" sites all together!
First I need to let Marie know I left a long comment on her blof last Friday but I don't see it posted. So, I just wanted to let her know I DID read her blog and post a comment. I recommended Hot tea with honey and a splash of Whiskey for her cold when she needed to sing.
Now, as to internet time. I don't go to any of those sites that Lori cut and I STILL get less done than she does! I DO get and send a LOT of email, I'm on a lot of loops and correspond with a LOT of firends and acquaintances. BUT, several months ago IUNsubscribed from a lot of my email loops and went on digest on all except a couple I moderate and that has really freed up some time. Now, does that mean I'm writng more? Well...
Yeah I went off a bunch of loops last year because it was time consuming. I've cut down on the Google reader but not enough. If I HAD to give up some internet stuff it would be the gossip sites on Google reader (sorry Perez Hilton!) and Twitter for sure. And limiting my visits to forums, etc to once a day. Some things I just can't give up...lol.
Katie, I think that's a big thing for me--not checking blogs more than once a day. Okay, I make an exception when it's my blog day, but aside from that, I make one sweep a day and that's it. That's saved me sooo much time!
Avery, every year I wonder if I should cancel my RWA subscription. Especially now that they're going up by $10. But like last year, I'll fork out the money in the end like I always do. I do question it every May, though!
Juliet, I'm on digest for every loop I'm on. I can't imagine getting all the e-mails! It really is a big time saver, and rarely do I miss out on any conversation because I didn't see something soon enough. In fact, usually someone's answered what I would have by then, so I can save myself the time. LOL!
Karen, what's Google reader?
Oh man... I think I'd end up cutting places like Television Without Pity, where I totally kill hours reading recaps of shows I might or might not watch but enjoying knowing what's going on with (that is the worst sentence ever!) Blogs are hard though, because I do enjoy catching up with the latest on my favorite authors... I don't Twitter or do much other social networking, knowing that it'd be a huge time sink... Eee... ;p
Cheers to you, Lori, for readjusting your internet priorities! I wish I could do that AND stick to it!
I have a list of about 20 blogs I visit daily as well as facebook and read emails. I also visit woot and 1saleaday to see what bargain is available. The rest of my computer time is reading, and there is NO way I would give that up!
Oh boy, I don't even want to know what Television Without Pity is. It sounds like something I could spend a lot of time on!
Thanks, Lexi. It's true that sticking with it is harder than I'd expected. So many times, I pass by the computer and am tempted to just "check a couple things". I really have to force myself to keep walking.
And Lisa, 1saleaday? You've got me tempted to Google that one!
I would stay off the news and politics websites that just drive me crazy anyway. I have also been reading way too many gardening/farming sites since I have cabin fever. I mean, reading about raising sheep when I have your average tiny suburban backyard? Not exactly productive time.
LOL Marie. But we can dream, can't we?
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