[cableshaft]

There was a time when I had a computer that didn't have a working network card. I would take it to the library with me, and I would be incredibly productive during it. If I got stuck on something, I'd work on something else instead, and look it up when I got home.

I also tried doing what I called an "Internet Diet", of self-imposing working offline, and as long as I stuck with it I got a good amount done then also. In fact one thing I noticed was that if I didn't let myself have the internet, I'd start to get bored, and would naturally open up a code editor or text editor and start writing, or at least organizing the files on my hard drive or even just reading a book.

My main problem are my jobs, though. If my job absolutely requires the internet in order for me to do my job (and right now it absolutely does), then the distractions are just a few clicks away, tempting me, and I fall into its trap.

Time to get off the internet, at least for a bit.

[inakarmacoma]

...or EVEN read a BOOK.

Aspiring authors offer up a collective sigh.

But there are movies, still.

By the way, has anyone seen the 37th remake of Superman? Sorry, I meant 36th.

Hey, anyone want to invest in a new movie idea. It's gold. It's only been done 36 times before. Don't delay. You won't believe what happens at the end. Lois Lane loses 30lbs with 1 crazy dieting trick that big-Doctors don't want you to know about.

Time is running out. Don't wait. There's no time to read that book, you're missing out.

[cableshaft]

I do read books. Nowhere near as many as my wife, who's read 16 books already so far this year, but I do read books.

I've finished three books so far this year. The 3rd and 4th books in The Expanse series, and Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (which includes the short story that the Arrival movie was based on). I'm about 4 chapters into Don Quixote also, which I decided I'd finally read this year.

And that's with the following distractions:

* Letting myself enjoy and complete a 25 hour visual novel video game (AI: The Somnium Files, for anyone curious)

* 15 hours of training to be an ESL tutor

* Preparing lesson plans and meeting with my ESL Learner on a weekly basis

* Taking a 6 week travel writing course at my local library

* Polishing up 4 different board game prototypes, writing rules, filming videos and entering them into two different game design competitions

* Coding two different video games I'm hoping to release sometime this year

* Writing a first draft of a short story for an annual short story anthology that my local writing group does every year

* Hosting a monthly playtest night for local game designers

* Having a wife and two dogs that demand time and attention every day

* Working at a company that has 1-2 network outages each week (at least the past month and a half) that requires me to sit for hours after work coordinating with network and server teams to fix the issue

* Getting mentally prepared and brushing up technical knowledge for the inevitable interview gauntlet I'll need to undergo to find a new job.

I'm sure there's things I'm leaving out. This is all since January 1st this year, btw.

I also write novels off and on, I just don't have any finished yet. Lots of first drafts from participating in Nanowrimo for 10 years. It's a lot harder for me to revise and finish them, though, especially with juggling all my other interests (game design and development usually takes priority). Planning to attend a writer's retreat in two weeks to try to get one in a state that I don't mind other people reading it and giving feedback.

Also despite all this, I waste a ton of time on the internet and really need to nip it in the bud if I want to keep juggling so many balls in the air. And I do still see most Marvel movies. Not DC movies though, except Shazam!