The above three are my top three worst things that distract me and help me procrastinate in my motherhood and cleaning/wifely duties. It is a daily struggle!
I’m completely guilty of having Netflix on all day and binge watching something. I actually just finished doing that with season 5 of Pretty Little Liars. I finished it in 2 days -_- yeah, it’s not a pretty sight. I find this issue a little rooted to my childhood. Growing up, my mom would have the tv on ALL the time, and I found it irritating and annoying. I didn’t get it. I couldn’t understand why she kept it on so much. Now I understand that some of it was mostly for background noise. I’ve noticed that I not only enjoy watching new shows, but I’ll put on shows I’ve already watched a billion times to “watch” them. A.k.a. it’s my background noise. HOW DID I GET TO THIS?! I ask myself all the time lol. I’ve started not having the tv on AT ALL in the mornings. And sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. It’s all about the intent right?! It keeps me from sitting on my butt and being glued there. And it keeps me engaged in my real life.
Tumblr and other social media (on my phone) is my all day black hole as well. I love social media, and I love tumblr. At one point I had an issue where I was consuming that more than being with my own children. And that’s when I realized that it’s not worth that. I tend to overindulge with electronics and I have to be constantly aware of myself when I’m using them. So I’ve started switching from mobile, to my desktop for a lot of it. My computer isn’t on all the time. I try to avoid and limit phone time to only naptime, bedtime, or in another rare moment of alone time. I try to keep my phone down most of the morning unless it’s to answer calls or texts. It gives me more freedom to actually be there for my kids and it makes me happier. When I’m on my phone all day, my relationships suffer a little bit, and I’m more snappish and irritable. When I limit myself, I’m happier to be spending time with everyone, and I’m learning things and experiencing things instead of being in my tumblr bubble. It’s a constant battle to make sure that I’m not overindulging.
YouTube is my night time go-to black hole. I end up staying up until 2am or later sometimes once I get going on a video spree. Once you find that one video, then you see the suggestions on the sidebar…and then it becomes 5am and the day is about to start soon! I remember being nothing but groggy and snappish the next day because I’d get so little sleep, which doesn’t help anyone. To battle this a little bit, I’ve started allowing myself to stay up only until midnight. I’ve realized that if I don’t limit myself, that I’ll end up being mean the next day because of how little sleep I got. I won’t feel rested, alert, I’d be guzzling way too much caffeine, falling asleep everywhere, etc. Giving myself two hours of screen time has cut back on a lot of that, and even though sometimes I still might fall a little backwards and go down the black hole again, I know that I can keep getting back on the wagon.
In today’s world, it’s very difficult to NOT be sucked into every screen all day and night. Lord knows sometimes I just want to, and sometimes I revert and do it. You can have an entire life and relationship without leaving your couch! I may be more social on social media, but I’m a little more shy in real life, and I think that’s part of the beauty of the internet that’s so enticing. But I’ve also learned that without limiting myself and being more aware of what I do and don’t do, that I’m missing out on actually LIVING and interacting with my family and friends in real life as well. I don’t want to miss out on my kids’ lives, on raising them and teaching them. I just have to make sure that they come first, and my real life too, before any screen in this universe. (But don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy watching things with my family, playing games with them, and other things as well. I just try to do it in moderation if/when I remember to. It’s hard, but I try.)
- Melissa ( emrysina )
