Computer Curfew: Day 1

Ok, so after writing Never Check Your Email First or Last, I realized that although email was bad to check before going to bed and after waking, it was only the part of the problem. I realized that if I wasn’t checking my email at night, I was still putzing around the web much later than I should be. I’d check the blog stats, read comments, read my other feeds, among others. These are the things that could easily be classified as “need to do’s”, but not “must do’s”. They were things that my mind could easily justify, (with a little coaxing) that needed to be done. Make sense? I know it sounds silly, but for some reason the mind tends to warp the importance of things on occasion. Should I be well rested or should I read lifehacker?

So, given my weak knees when it comes to reading other blogs and finding cool websites, (I’m a del.icio.us junkie), I’ve decided to place upon myself a computer curfew for 5 days. After I’m done with work (5 or 6 Central Time), the computer is literally shut down. And it doesn’t restart until the next morning. I know, I know… it’s a pretty bold move. But I’m guessing that I’m actually going to get more done throughout the following day. And here’s why.

1) I’ll be better rested. It’s so much easier to make yourself go to bed when there’s less distractions. I won’t accidentally stay up 2 hours later than I wanted to because I had a followed a “rabbit trail” of sites.

2) I’ll get more done. When the mind realizes that it only has a limited amount of time to get something done, something responsible inside of it tells the unresponsible part of it to knock it off and get something done. More or less, anyway.

So there we have it. I’ve already started last night, and so far it’s working as planned. But it’s still too early to tell whether this test will work or not. Keep posted for updates ;)