My journey to limit Internet Surfing!

​This is hard. And I mean hard. When I’m writing and I’m having a lull, my first instinct is to check my Face Book. That leads to me finding articles, which I then read, which leads me to other articles, which I then read, which leads me to…
 
You get the idea.

My laptop and my phone have become one big bad habit for me.  Basically, whenever I’m not writing, I Internet surf. Sometimes I even do this while I’m watching TV. I try not to do it when I’m with friends and family, but every once in while, there’s just something I have to look up!
 
It’s almost like an addiction in some ways.
 
Unfortunately, marketing my books requires me to be on social media so I can’t drop it completely. Going cold turkey would almost be easier in some ways, but like it or not, I have to stay active.
 
My solution?
 
I gave myself limits: 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night. I time it. And as soon as I’m done, I close out the windows on my computer or phone.
 
Of course, since 5 minutes is such a short amount of time, I have to make to-do lists, so it’s time well spent. But it’s difficult. I allow myself to research via Internet for my books and projects, but that’s it.
 
The best part?

​It’s strangely liberating!

​I feel really great not falling into the Internet surfing vortex I found myself trying to swim out of every day. I’ve been getting more writing done. I’ve actually been getting a lot more things done.
 
Granted, I still spend most of my time in front of a screen. This can’t be helped, I’m a writer. But I can limit the amount of time I waste on the Internet and my phone.
 
Try it and tell me how it worked for you!