Not unplugged

As you can imagine, a forty minute commute on any given day provides plenty of pondering time. I often find myself listening to podcasts from individuals much wiser than myself or books on CD.

Recently I have found myself suffering from time management. Sure, I could blame it on work, church assignments, four kids, my wife or even the dog. Unfortunately blaming doesn't solve the problem. It never gave me back more time.

I've recently read or heard a few stories about people making personal changes, which are really a page out of good, better, best decision making. Some are choosing to get financial affairs in order by living on what they currently possess. This is a radical and quick tug on the emergency brake. Others are choosing to go unplugged.

Others have found the strength to turn off smartphones, deactivate Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and email folks telling them, "see ya in 30 days". I'm sure it's hard to change and "going cold turkey" doesn't always yield the desired results. Any known or denied addition is hard to break.

So the other day I deactivated my Facebook account. I was surprised to see within twenty-four hours that someone was trying to use that medium to contact me. Maybe it does serve some purpose even though I was contacted via text later.

One thing I did realize was I didn't miss it much. Maybe Mr. Zuckernaire is living the dream, but I think it is at an unrealized social cost. Computers were designed to make us more productive, which in general they do. We just need to be careful that with opposition in all things, we don't diminish our true capacity for managing our time on things that matter most.