[Stardog]

Hi. I am really active. I exercise and I go out with friends and my husband and I go to school and am fully functional, but when I am home, I am on the computer all the time. I'm not so good at getting off of it. I desire to build models, to paint, to play my keyboard and my guitar so I can build skills in these areas but I can't seem to make my way off of online when I have downtime.

Anyone have suggestions? Would you write your activities you want to do on a white board or a piece of paper and force yourself to stick to it? Shut your computer down and put it away? NOthing seems to work. I have an extremely addictive personality and I'm hooked on this computer whenever I'm around my house.

[chickybird]

Well, does being on the computer affect your life in negative ways? Do you turn down time with friends, loved ones to be on the computer? Does it affect your job?
As for suggestions, tape a note on your monitor that says "Every hour I sit here, I'm only getting fatter. Go do something!!!"
I do this sometimes, lol!

[shelby897]

Do what I do with the kids

For every 15 minutes of computer/TV time they want, they have to do 15 minutes of physical activity, reading, etc. Make yourself "earn" your computer time.

Good luck.

[KLK]

I agree -- make yourself earn time on the computer. For instance, promise yourself that you will practice the guitar for a half an hour and then you can go online for 15 mins., then you'll practice for another 30 mins, and then you can go online for 20 mins., etc.

Or maybe you can plan out in advance exactly what you need/want to do online -- i.e. check e-mails, check message boards, browse e-bay, see if friend is online, check a few blogs, etc. and then go on and ONLY do those things; I find much of my "wasted" time online is spent when I stumble onto something I'd never seen before and I get sucked in. When I'm short on time, I will intentionally bookmark pages of interest so I can look at it later when I really do have nothing else I want to do.

But I would also stay away from cramming too many "self-cultivating" activities into a single day. You DO need to just plain relax sometimes and if you relax by going online, I think thats fine.

[scaryshari]

This is going to sound a little morbid - but very effective. I have a similar problem with TV. I live my life vicariously through the TV (or I did ). I imagine myself on my death-bed. Then I think of all the hours I accumulated watching TV. On my deathbed I am going to wish I have all those wasted hours back.

Talking to family and friends is great - other things are minutes taken from your life. Get out there and live!

Wow. This really hits home. Lately I've been more of a part of my own life and haven't had time to get on and "chat". I've got 2 threads and 3 sites wondering if I'm alive because I haven't been "online" for a week or two. I think I better get on and let people know I'm alright.

Maybe it's time to work on balance and not letting one thing go completely in order to make way for another.