Facing the music....time on the BBB

[infomama]

I love it here....why else would I have stuck around for 7 years. That being said, I think I spend too much time on the boards. I'm not leaving but I think I am going to keep a log for the next week so I can see in black and white how much time I am devoting to the board vs. doing other things that need to be done.
Anyone in? or are you good with it all....

[WatchingThemGrow]

OK. You got me. I can make some great excuses why I'm here so much, but I need to be doing other things... plus, my eyesight is getting bad. yikes!

I'm in.

[BabyMine]

NOOOO you can't limit your time.

Ignorance is bliss.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I was just thinking the same thing earlier today. I was also think that there are some downsides or the board for me. I feel happy with my life. I don't have a career (or the extra disposable income that go with it) and am usually in a pretty good place with that but can get sucked in to feeling inadequate reading on here. Which makes me think that I might need a break so I can stop feeling the need for more, better, whatever...things I don't even think about unless brought up here. But, I love a lot of things here and maybe are just issues I need to personally work on rather than stop coming here.

eta- a friend the other day said that she needed to go online sometime that day and that it had been like a week. I was thinking that I had been online 3 times and it was just lunch time!

Beth

[gatorsmom]

Well, I think the key is to know what you are looking for here. I think if you can recognize that, then you might be able to find alternatives to being here (not that we should be spending time away). Not sure that made sense but I'll use myself for an example: I procrastinate alot. There are certainly things around the house that I don't want to do and so I find a reason to come here rather than do the things I should. Like fililng. I handle all the filing for one of our companies. And it's not a bad job for me since there really isn't any deadline for getting filing done. But I have really sloughed off and have piles of it. I hate it and usually come here instead. But since March I promised myself I'd do 10 minutes of filing per day. THAT I can do so the work gets done and THEN I can come here because I just want to.

I also come here to socialize since I'm usually so busy that the only socializing I do is in the hallway waiting to pick up Cha Cha from preschool. Honestly, there is no way I can pick back up or keep up a serious friendship right now. I'm too busy and so are my friends. So, here I come.

I dunno, I think if you have valid reasons for coming here (posting questions, socializing, helping other moms with their questions, learning stuff, etc., and you are at least keeping most of your other balls in the air, then it's ok to spend some time here.

[salsah]

i've thought about it too. i could get so much more done (and spend more time with my kids) if i didn't spend so much time on the bbb. i come and go in waves. some weeks, i'm on here to much. other weeks, i'm too busy to get on the computer at all, even to check my email.
like Lisa, i do need the bbb. not just for the wealth of information, but this is my connection to the outside world. i'm a sahm. my best friends have either moved out of the area or wohm. dh works long hours. aside from chatting with people at the grocery store or with other parents/nannies at pre-school drop off/pick up, it just me and my kids, all day, everyday. (no sitter, mother's helper, nanny, etc. and dd2 hasn't started school yet.) the bbb preserves my sanity.

[infomama]

I think if you have valid reasons for coming here (posting questions, socializing, helping other moms with their questions, learning stuff, etc.

Those are the reasons why I am here but I feel that there are times that I am here that I could be doing other things (like working on dd's photo books or (shameful admission now) spending more time with my dd's ) and that is where it becomes an issue for me.

[mousemom]

I dunno, I think if you have valid reasons for coming here (posting questions, socializing, helping other moms with their questions, learning stuff, etc., and you are at least keeping most of your other balls in the air, then it's ok to spend some time here.

Also, I may be rationalizing here, but I don't think that I would be doing the things that really need to be done (such as cleaning the bathroom, filing, etc.) if I weren't on here in the evenings. I'd be watching TV or reading magazines or find some other way to relax and avoid doing the other stuff...

[jgenie]

I know I'm guilty of being on here a lot - I've started powering down my computer during the day so I'm not tempted to pop in as much. I'm on a lot at night when I'm nursing DS2 back to sleep.

[infomama]

15 hours later and I have logged 35 minutes here. I am using the stopwatch feature on my iTouch so I can get a good number as sometimes I pop in for a few minutes and that counts, too. I'll report back in a week on this topic.