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Internet Preventing a Nice House?? - Page 2

post #21 of 84
1/30/08 at 8:31am
I just joined MDC at the beginning of Jan...very quickly became an addict. The other side of it is the inspiration I have found by reading these forums and finding some really helpful suggestions. I am hoping to balance the computer time and use it more as areward when I have accomplished some other tasks. I busted out some serious housework yesterday and turned off the computer so I wouldn't check it so often. This am the kids have a 2hr delay so I am going to limit this time and hang with them. Here's to haviing the willpower to do it!
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post #22 of 84
1/30/08 at 9:08am
:

I am very guilty of this! I could spend hours on here just reading! I don't know what to do though, as it's a very strong addiction. Once I sign off, I just keep thinking about the next time I can get on here. I really need help. I lie to DH when he calls & asks what I'm doing . It's really bad.
post #23 of 84
1/30/08 at 9:52am
ooops here it is almost 8 and I have only stopped reading to make the dd's some eggs: this is my last post until the older DD's are off to school and DD#3 is napping. I need to get going await...once those are done more MDC
post #24 of 84
1/30/08 at 11:13am
Yep, once i found MDC I have been hooked. However I feel like a major SLUG when I spend too much time onlince. I have learned so much on here and it has renewed my desire for living a simpler life and making a small footprint. But I also realize that if I am on the computer and not living then everything has backfired.

So, for the past 3 weeks, I have been living this schedule and I feel great:
6am-7am wake up, shower, do hair/makeup, get dressed, start load of laundry, prep breakfast
7-7:30 go for walk outside
7:30-8:30 bfast with kiddos, drink a cup of tea, empty dishwasher, clean up after bfast, advance laundry, check calendar

dc1 is 17 - she gets herself up and out of the house in the am
dc2&3 are 5 & 3. They get up sometime between 6-7am. If we had nighttime accident, they take a morning bath. Then they get dressed and brush teeth before they can eat or have milk. I lay out their clothes before my walk.

My dh works from home so while he isn't helping in the am, he is here so that I can have my walk.

Once the morning routine is complete, I feel free to get online to check email and MDC. I found I am spending between 1/2 to 1 hour online while the boys play. They go to afternoon school, so I may check the computer again in the afternoon, but never after dinner.

MDC does rock!
Maggie
post #25 of 84
1/30/08 at 11:28am
I do have to acknowledge I spend an inordinate amount of time online...but I have a schedule I try and follow and intersperse that with breaks for net surfing! So far...so good.
post #26 of 84
1/30/08 at 11:53am
If it wasn't the internet, it would be something else...reading...tv...kids...whatever. I'm a master at avoiding housework and will use anything to distract myself from it. I would like to spend less time online, but it's hard!
post #27 of 84
1/30/08 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tamagotchi View Post
If you use Firefox, you can use the pageaddict extension
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3685
thanks for this link! i have already started using it!
post #28 of 84
1/30/08 at 1:52pm
Hi my name is Brandy and I am an internet addict.

Actually I sodl our previous computer and cancelled internet for 3 years, but it didn't help, I just went to my moms daily under the guise of checking emails. I get on to feed the baby first thing in teh am, and sit here for a few hours. I do use it to avoid housework, I do however have it set up int eh kitchen so I can still teach the kids and supervise their lessons and be online.

Today once I get up off this chair I am making myself stay offline for 2 hours or until baby wakes back up which ever happens first.
post #29 of 84
1/31/08 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital View Post
I took a week off the computer
Just reading that made me feel like I was going to hyperventilate . I can't even think about it let alone try to do it. I'm really addicted to my three sites.
post #30 of 84
2/1/08 at 11:48pm
This was one of my new year's resolutions and I have failed MISERABLY. The rest of them I did quite well on so far, but the Internet addiction... 'tis terrible. I'm not going to limit myself to 15 minutes for this next week but I will limit myself to twice a day instead of jumping on here on and off all day. Baby steps, you know?
post #31 of 84
2/2/08 at 2:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aratiaw View Post
I often jump on the net as a way of avoiding housework, because I'm so tired. I stare at the screen and mostly just read, too tired to put words together that would be coherent enough to make a positive contribution to the forums I enjoy. In reality, if I went to bed earlier and got more sleep, I would have more energy the next day, the house would be in better shape, and my internet time would be shorter but perhaps more satisfying. Easier said than done.
This is totally me. I really need more sleep. I need to exercise. I've also found while I am addicted to MDC, I am also addicted to blogs. I read all of these crafty, simple living and green blogs (in addition to all the great info gleaned here) and it sends my mind spinning to more things I want to do, that I don't have time for (because I'm on the internet) or am too tired for (because I stay up to late, and don't exercise). I love to gather information and inpiration. I have so much in my head...all the time, I just don't do anything with it- which makes me feel bad about myself, in turn.
I'd like to ONLY spend time on the internet during my daughter's naps- 30 minutes maximum. I honestly think my marriage is suffering because I spend hours on the internet at night after DD goes to bed instead of re-connecting with DH. (He watches sports while I am online.)

I think it also feeds my need for intellectual conversation. DH isn't exactly that type of conversationalist...I so miss academia...
post #32 of 84
2/3/08 at 12:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamaheids View Post
This is totally me. I really need more sleep. I need to exercise. I've also found while I am addicted to MDC, I am also addicted to blogs. I read all of these crafty, simple living and green blogs (in addition to all the great info gleaned here) and it sends my mind spinning to more things I want to do, that I don't have time for (because I'm on the internet) or am too tired for (because I stay up to late, and don't exercise). I love to gather information and inpiration. I have so much in my head...all the time, I just don't do anything with it- which makes me feel bad about myself, in turn.
I'd like to ONLY spend time on the internet during my daughter's naps- 30 minutes maximum. I honestly think my marriage is suffering because I spend hours on the internet at night after DD goes to bed instead of re-connecting with DH. (He watches sports while I am online.)

I think it also feeds my need for intellectual conversation. DH isn't exactly that type of conversationalist...I so miss academia...

You sound like me. I get all this inspiration on the net, but I need to get off so I can actually LIVE it kwim? I've been that way for years though. I seem to be adhd or something I'm not hyperactive, but I'll read like 4 books at once instead of finishing one at a time. I jump around on the internet. I start lots of projects, but finish very few and that makes me feel bad about myself. It's like I run out of steam and have to constantly have something new to look forward to. This all affects the state of the house. I've done really well on parts of it, but then I wear my brain and body out and don't keep up so the bad parts ooze back into the decluttered parts and I start all over again It is a very frustrating cycle.

It is so much better when we take a break from tv and internet. Tonight we played on the wood floor with Simon. We had cars and fire trucks going back and forth it was great! And we had a very happy little boy too. Oh, and the hall way was nice a decluttered and vacuumed. I can breath and don't feel trapped! Good feeling.
I think 30 minutes a day would be a good long-term goal (15 is too short.)
post #33 of 84
2/3/08 at 1:02am
I've been thinking about the whys too. Is it because I want to connect with people, but don't want to do it face to face? Is it to avoid housework or parenting? I don't think so. I think I do it because I have an insatiable need to learn and try on new ideas.

The problem is, like you all mentioned, when the "research" takes all your time and you never actually get around to implementing what you've learned. For example, who cares if I read about cool homeschool ideas if I barely do any actual homeschooling because I'm always online? I may have great ideas and theories, but how valuable are they when I have no actual experience with them? And who is benefitting from my research? Not my son--the person I am supposedly reading about homeschooling for!
post #34 of 84
2/3/08 at 1:07am
Ahem yup I am procrastinating now! Meanwhile the house is a pigsty, all I could clean up while my baby naps, would take me half an hour tops to go around and tidy up .. but here I sit! I get sucked in each time I walk into this room!

Hmmm motivation and willpower, both I am lacking in!
BUT if I have a friend coming over ... house is pretty darn tidy pretty quickly~! Hmm thats something to think on too, why do I value the house being tidy for a visitor, but not for me or my family. This is something I am going to be working on, embracing the Betty Homemaker in me!

Ok sorry about the ramble, but yes I am going to try and limit my internet use.
post #35 of 84
2/3/08 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReadingMama View Post
I've been thinking about the whys too. Is it because I want to connect with people, but don't want to do it face to face? Is it to avoid housework or parenting? I don't think so. I think I do it because I have an insatiable need to learn and try on new ideas.

The problem is, like you all mentioned, when the "research" takes all your time and you never actually get around to implementing what you've learned. For example, who cares if I read about cool homeschool ideas if I barely do any actual homeschooling because I'm always online? I may have great ideas and theories, but how valuable are they when I have no actual experience with them? And who is benefitting from my research? Not my son--the person I am supposedly reading about homeschooling for!
Yep this is me! I will totally spend hours reading about age-appropriate activities for 3 year olds instead of getting off the computer and doing activities with my 3 year old. It's ridiculous.

Part of it for me, too, is the fact that I just recently (mid-December) became single. In the evenings I start to feel kind of lonely. I get on the computer to escape the loneliness.

I think for me it's not good enough to turn the laptop off. It takes less than a minute to boot up again! I need to actually unplug it, put it into its bag (it's a laptop), and put the bag somewhere inconvenient. Like the basement! Or a top shelf in a closet!

Okay, I'm putting the computer away now. *lectures self* I may not get on the computer again till the boys are in bed, and then only for an hour!
post #36 of 84
2/3/08 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
I love doing research on the net and if I could just not stay on too much it would be fine. I just have to make myself turn it off after a while (good to set the timer) I have to think of how good it will make me feel both mentally and physically if I actually get off and live for a while
Right now I read like crazy about birth and breastfeeding and I'm wanting to start a LLL group locally (nearest groups are 1hr and 2 1/2) When I am interested in a subject I can retain a LOT of info about it. So it can be a good thing. It has also helped me get ideas on how to get my house looking better than it ever has (part of the house still a long way to go)
Since ds was born the internet has really been an encouragement to me and made me feel less isolated. I have more recently joined groups of moms in our church and a mops group, but I still like to get on MDC in particular because natural birth etc is not popular around here. I was the only one in our group of about 10 of us moms that didn't have an epidural. I don't care: if someone chooses that it's fine, but you should be well informed about it. Everyone around here just does it because birth is scary and that's just what you do kwim? So it's good to have support on here.

Anyway, I've now rambled and gone OT more than anyone on here
What successes have you all had on your houses since we started "talking" in this thread?
I've decluttered over 100 items, decluttered and vacuumed the upstairs hall and desk and our bedroom and ds bedroom. My next BIG HUGE goal is the laundry room. It's scary : That's a picture of me standing in there looking back and forth at all the cluttered shelves with dust and ...gross...mouse droppings from little critters that have since "moved out" (in a trap)
So what are ya'll working on?
post #37 of 84
2/4/08 at 9:56am
My family just got a DSL connection for xmas and since discovering MDC last month as many have said I quickly found it taking up lots of time...at 1st I really started to feel bad about myself and my lack of connection with real life and the keeping of my home...then I started taking small steps to change some things I have found many of the forums on MDC to be truly inspiring putting to use "10 minute challenges", & just basic D,O,&S has changed my home So now with a little bit of self control I really need to continue to be inspired so I can maintain! Thanks for listening to me ramble, I hope that I can help to inspire some others to make changes they want in their lives!
post #38 of 84
2/5/08 at 12:31am
I've actually tried to think of ways to get the 'net out of our house. But....NO. Not going to happen.

I freelance from home and I HAVE to have my 'net connection. It is just that....well, I check too much.

Right now, it is 930 PM. The kids are asleep. I'm on the couch with my laptop. I meant to write a blog post--- but forgot what I planned on--- so I came here for inspiration.

I've done pretty good with banning myself from some sites-- blogs of people who annoy me, celebrity gossip and such, and I find this means I have a lot less places I *have* to check online...

Which just gives me more time to spend at MDC.

Oddly enough, almost every friend I have in real life? Met online. One on MDC, three through my blog, another through a friend who read my blog and then my sitter, through an online ad.
post #39 of 84
2/5/08 at 2:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by simonboy'smommy View Post
I love doing research on the net and if I could just not stay on too much it would be fine. I just have to make myself turn it off after a while (good to set the timer) I have to think of how good it will make me feel both mentally and physically if I actually get off and live for a while
This really hit home with me. ShareBear and ReadingMama too. I spend SO much time online. I have good intentions. Trying to figure out the best way to handle our home, the best way to raise our kids, etc. Except as you said, the living gets lost in there. Sometimes I act as if my kids are an annoyance, an interruption in my online time. They are the absolute best thing in my life. I love them with all of my heart. This thread is making things crystal clear for me, and helping me realize that I need to get my priorities in order. Thank you.
post #40 of 84
2/5/08 at 10:25am
I just wanted to share that in the last week....I started taking vitamins, my little started sleeping through the night and my 3yods started sleeping in his own bed.
hence.....lol.....I get more sleep...and I've been off the computer for most of the day...save nap time and after dinner.
oh..and morning.
so.......My house is so dang clean!
lol......yay!
love reading all of your inspiring stories!