Time spent in front of the screen

Mickey Dazzler

As I prepare to log off and go to sleep I have just realised that I have been in front of a computer screen quite literally all day.

90% of my work day is in front of a computer screen and when I finish work I kick back and surf the web for most of the rest of the evening. Just looking up the usual shite... FB, boards etc....

That is about 8 hours in work and about 5 hours when I get home. And that is practically everyday!!

I'm not unhealthy, I'm not over weight and don't look at porn all the time, well not obsessively anyway. I do well with the ladies and have a very active social life on the weekends...

But I am starting to think I spend way too long online. I used to read books all the time... may one a week at least.... now maybe one a year.... I'm still reading all the time... but its just blogs, news articles and just shit basically.

I also feel my attention span has drastically reduced... If something does not look immediately interesting I will close and look for something else...which often leads to hours of non stop surfing....

I feel I need to break this cycle....

Does anybody else feel they spend way too much time on line? Have you cut down or substituted time on line with other more wholesome activities??

Do tell....

Sleepy

Yep, do pretty much the same... work in front of the computer all day, come home for dinner and a play with the kids before their bedtime and then I sit down with the laptop while watching telly with the other half...

Still read a lot of books though, the laptop screen keeps the other half awake otherwise!

Mickey Dazzler

I see. So I guess I'm not alone.

So I guess what I'm trying to do is to gauge how long everybody else is online(work and leisure) everyday on average.

I'd would say I am about 12 hours.

How long do you spend in front of the screen?

paulmclaughlin

Around 14 hours but in the same circumstances as yourself.

knucklehead6

work in front of them all day in an internal support capacity. Turn on either the desktop or the laptop when i get home in case i get an OOH call and need to dial in.

Spend a LITTLE bit of time online at home, either OD, or facebook, boards, or torrent sites, but not a huge amount.
By the time i'm finished at work i've had enough of the damn things for the day!!

eh i dunno

About 2/3 hours in work and maybe an hour in the evening. More than enough

Mickey Dazzler

Mickey Dazzler wrote: »

Does anybody else feel they spend way too much time on line? Have you cut down or substituted time on line with other more wholesome activities?? Do tell....

I try not to use the PC at home ever, if I am posting on here it is either at work or - on the rare rare occasions I post in the evening - working from home.

I think I have populated my life with too much to _do_ to be even able to waste time online outside work hours. I run in the morning, cycle in the evening, keep a wolf, grow my own veg and herbs, have a DIY hobby, do all the cooking in my house (the gfs have a unique ability to destroy the kitchen even when enaged in rudimentry cooking like oven pizza or omellette so I took over), study vipassana, capoiera and B-JJ, and throw once monthly house parties for my mates.

After all that there is literally no time left for surfing of an evening. In fact we also do not even own a television. No point, no time, and there is nothing worth watching on it anyway.

walshb

Half the bloody world is stuck in front of some screen. Either TV or internet. We are saturated with information

Feckless Rogue

Deleted User wrote: »

keep a wolf

That escalated quickly

bureau2009

walshb wrote: »

Half the bloody world is stuck in front of some screen. Either TV or internet. We are saturated with information

I think the question we all need to ask ourselves is this anyway to lead our lives?

Think of all the wasted time watching TV/surfing the net. Think of what else we could be doing, activities that could benefit us - exercise, socialising, hobbies etc.

And is TV/Internet real life? Shouldn't we spend more time in the real world and make our REAL lives work better for us?

walshb

bureau2009 wrote: »

I think the question we all need to ask ourselves is this anyway to lead our lives?

Think of all the wasted time watching TV/surfing the net. Think of what else we could be doing, activities that could benefit us - exercise, socialising, hobbies etc.

And is TV/Internet real life? Shouldn't we spend more time in the real world and make our REAL lives work better for us?

Yes, but for some the internet and TV etc is leading a life. Their life. I love surfing the internet/tv. Chilling, relaxing and browsing. No better way to spend your free time. Sure, I do other things like exercise and socialsie etc, but give a free hour or two and I'd rather be sat down and relaxed and surfing the web as opposed to say being stung cutting the grass!

Feckless Rogue

Feckless Rogue wrote: »

That escalated quickly

Ok I read it - gave it a couple of hours and came back - read it again. I have to plead stupididy on this one and say "Errrr.... what?".

28064212

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok I read it - gave it a couple of hours and came back - read it again. I have to plead stupididy on this one and say "Errrr.... what?".

I think the point they were making was that of the list you gave:

run in the morning, cycle in the evening, keep a wolf, grow my own veg and herbs, have a DIY hobby, do all the cooking in my house, study vipassana, capoiera and B-JJ, and throw once monthly house parties for my mates

there's one that, shall we say, stands out. You keep a wolf?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i just assumed he meant GSD or some other large dog...

knucklehead6

28064212 wrote: »

I think the point they were making was that of the list you gave:

there's one that, shall we say, stands out. You keep a wolf?

and he was quoting Ron Burgundy after the big fight between the news anchors

Colonel Panic

Reading a book on this at the moment called The Shallows. It's a bit of an eye opener for me because like a lot of people here I used to read a lot and have hobbies, but often find myself pissing hours away on Reddit and stabbing the refresh button on Boards and other forums.

Sleepy

I mean to read that actually. I sometimes wonder am I half-addicted to the consumption of information via my laptop, netbook, smartphone etc.

28064212

28064212 wrote: »

I think the point they were making was that of the list you gave: there's one that, shall we say, stands out. You keep a wolf?

Ok thanks. I was actually thinking was some linguistic pun he was making that I was missing and I was reading the sentence every which way to try to find it I had every image in my head possible including weird combinations of wolves and escalators trying to work out what it might have been

Yes I imported a wolf from the US some years ago and have enjoyed the challange of keeping him ever since.

nozzferrahhtoo

28064212 wrote: »

there's one that, shall we say, stands out.

Just one? There is another thing in there that tends to jump out at a lot of people if and when he mentions it. Though in this case it was quite missable.

28064212

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok thanks. I was actually thinking was some linguistic pun he was making that I was missing and I was reading the sentence every which way to try to find it I had every image in my head possible including weird combinations of wolves and escalators trying to work out what it might have been

Ah, well, it was a specific reference to this meme: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/that-escalated-quickly

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes I imported a wolf from the US some years ago and have enjoyed the challange of keeping him ever since.

Certainly sounds interesting!

nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »

Just one? There is another thing in there that tends to jump out at a lot of people if and when he mentions it. Though in this case it was quite missable.

Pfft, everyone's had one of them, imagining two isn't a stretch. But I've never owned any wolves!

ronan45

Sure your laptop is effectively a portable entertainment centre. FB open, youtube blastin out some awesome tunes. About 12 windows open while watching Sky premium channels lol. Cheaper than going out !:cool:

28064212

28064212 wrote: »

Ah, well, it was a specific reference to this meme: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/that-escalated-quickly

Ah that does explain it, thanks again The lack of a television does mean I tend to miss popular culture references when they come up and I have in the past manged to make myself look as useless as when UK politicians try to make Coronation Street references in their speeches to make themselves look "with it".

28064212 wrote: »

Certainly sounds interesting!

Indeed. It keeps me away from the computer screen at home anyway, which was the point of my mentioning it. Actually the hour running in the morning and the hour cycling in the evening is directly linked as I do both with him in order to keep him well excercised. Wolves tend to eat through things important to you if they get restless. Little things like your walls which you tend to prefer to keep intact and once thought were pretty sturdy can quite quickly be rendered silly by a restless mutt.

Piliger

Taking work time away from the total ... I spend more than ever before ... but a lot LESS time watching TV.

For me that is what is important here. Time on my Mac is interactive ... time at the TV is very passive. So I am hapy with the situation.

knucklehead6

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah that does explain it, thanks again The lack of a television does mean I tend to miss popular culture references when they come up and I have in the past manged to make myself look as useless as when UK politicians try to make Coronation Street references in their speeches to make themselves look "with it".



Indeed. It keeps me away from the computer screen at home anyway, which was the point of my mentioning it. Actually the hour running in the morning and the hour cycling in the evening is directly linked as I do both with him in order to keep him well excercised. Wolves tend to eat through things important to you if they get restless. Little things like your walls which you tend to prefer to keep intact and once thought were pretty sturdy can quite quickly be rendered silly by a restless mutt.

Got any pics?? How big is he?

knucklehead6

knucklehead6 wrote: »

Got any pics?? How big is he?

I am afraid I am rather squemish about putting pictures of myself, my loved ones and even him on line and tend not to. There is a lot of reasons for this including the fact that he is not exactly legal in Ireland so I would not really want him to be recognisable.

I know that is paranoid and I know the chances of someone seeing a picture in here AND spotting me with him in real life AND then being the kind of person to follow me home and then report me to the cops is quite slim - but even slim is too much for me I am afraid.

Though I guess I have mentioned enough personal details on the forum for someone to find me if they put in the effort and will likely continue to do so - I still do not want to make it any easier for them

As for size I think he is a good 12-13 stone with feet comparable to the size of my fists. That should give you an impression.

Sleepy

Deleted User wrote: »

Though I guess I have mentioned enough personal details on the forum for someone to find me if they put in the effort and will likely continue to do so - I still do not want to make it any easier for them

I must admit, a work colleague was telling us that her mother was telling her some guy from the town she grew up in was now living in a truple (not in a judgemental fashion I must say, more pass-remarkable) and I did wonder if it was you...

Sleepy

Sleepy wrote: »

I must admit, a work colleague was telling us that her mother was telling her some guy from the town she grew up in was now living in a truple (not in a judgemental fashion I must say, more pass-remarkable) and I did wonder if it was you...

Who knows. Freakily enough I am also from Clontarf originally

I do a lot of work in the gay community and I have met some people in the same situation. It is not at all common.

Feckless Rogue

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok thanks. I was actually thinking was some linguistic pun he was making that I was missing and I was reading the sentence every which way to try to find it I had every image in my head possible including weird combinations of wolves and escalators trying to work out what it might have been

Yes I imported a wolf from the US some years ago and have enjoyed the challange of keeping him ever since.

Sorry man I completely missed all the replies to this thread somehow. Yeah I had a momentary internal debate about making a pop culture reference in this of all threads - it just seemed funny to casually throw in reference to the wolf so I was kind of playfully highlighting that awesome detail

In all honesty, your short description of your life sounds really, really fulfilling from here. You make an excellent case for not being up to date on obscure pop culture references.

kaimera

all day in work in front of a screen.

at home, i log back on to check mails and browse boards/reddit.

or play games.

if not, its to the xbox and play something.

I am trying to get away from the habit tho; actually got back into reading recently. the kindle

Reku

Keep in mind that if the Apples and Samsungs have their way there'll be no such thing as time spent not in front of the screen in a few years.:p

Feckless Rogue

Feckless Rogue wrote: »

In all honesty, your short description of your life sounds really, really fulfilling from here. You make an excellent case for not being up to date on obscure pop culture references.

Perhaps. I can say ridding our house of a television was one of the best moves we have ever made for sure.

Emeraldy Pebbles

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes I imported a wolf from the US some years ago and have enjoyed the challange of keeping him ever since.

Is that legal?

Emeraldy Pebbles

Emeraldy Pebbles wrote: »

Is that legal?

....erm..... I am unable to respond to your comment in the affirmative.....

H3llR4iser

I think that what people are missing is the fact that a computer is essentially a multipurpose tool, not a single-use object like most, and in time its usefulness has grown up to a point where it can easily replace many of these mentioned "single-purpose" objects.

You can watch TV, a movie, read a book or the newspaper on a computer, but you can't, say, watch TV on a newspaper.

On top of that, computers can be used to perform a wide variety of other tasks that involve both creating stuff or just consuming:

- work;
- play games;
- write;
- create art;
- self-teaching a host of subjects (from history to programming);

Therefore, the perception of "always being in front of a screen" is somewhat distorted; What are you actually doing in front of the screen?

Personally, I do a lot of things both with a computer and without. At work, I am on the technical side of QA. At home, I research information, watch documentaries, create art (not very good at it, but I still enjoy it!), keep my programming skills up to date, develop a few simple games (haven't managed to make the next Angry Birds yet!) and play games; "Off the screen" activities include reading (I can get totally immersed in a good book), some DYI both in the apartment and on the car, go to the gym and build scale models.

However, should I say that most of the "off the computer" activities, I got into after reading and watching tutorials about them from the Internet - the gym being the obvious exception.

Therefore, I would say that computers are an excellent tools and an essential one at that - being 32 I did live quite a long time without the Internet, but right now it seems inconceivable to me, as the habit of being able to access information about just anything at the click of a button is quite spoiling.

As for the short attention span problem, I don't think it is strictly connected to computers and the Internet - I clearly remember when I was a child, if a game required a little bit of setting up or had a learning curve, most of the other kids would just lose interest within 30 seconds and decide to be messy and noisy instead. And I am talking the likes of 1988, no Internet nor iPads to blame for it - just the TV, perhaps...

jessiejam

I work on a computer all day. I work in IT so I am looking at or fixing others' PC's all day too. The only screen I look at when I go home is the telly. Laptop is used at the weekend but thats about it, and only briefly.
Gonna be needing glasses soon i'm thinking