Since
I started working in an office and had a few minutes of spare time to
peruse the interwebs, I’ve taken on the habit of emailing myself links
to information that I have to read later. The problem is they pile up quickly.

 

And it starts early in the morning. Twitter is an ever running machine, constantly bringing me new articles on a variety of subjects from scads of writers. The supply will never run dry. From the moment I hop on the internet at 7 a.m. to the moment I get off around 9 p.m., if I'm being good and going to bed on time, I am constantly assaulted (?) with terribly interesting things to read. It's all a voracious reader could ask for.

 

This
internet is rabbit-hole of information and anyone who has spent more
than 10 minutes can attest to that. Since my work requires me to be in
front of a computer for at least half the day, I have instant access to
the webs which can keep me surfing all day long if I’m not careful. Or
disciplined.

To
combat losing something, because I have no idea how I found it in the
first place, or it needs more than the two
minutes I can afford to devote to it, I email the link to myself
and save it for later. Most of these messages are marked with a “to
read” label in my inbox so when I’m looking for something to pass the
time or when I have a few minutes to spare, I can just click
on one of the links and be interested and engaged all over again.

 

The problem is there are other things I should be doing most of the time. Like working and doing a bit of writing myself. Or heaven forbit I get outside in the afternoons!

I am becoming more and
more comfortable with the idea that I don’t have to save and read everything. I
will most certainly miss something interesting, and that’s really ok.
But the things I do capture usually sit in my inbox for a week or two
before I remember they are there for my enjoyment.

Not to mention my list of books to read grows by two or three every week and the though of keeping up with it is bleak. Though I hear the winters here are rough so there maybe an excess of time during the dark days to get my reading on.

But for now, reading the saved links in my inbox would be a better use of my
time than hours of TV on Netflix. Note to self: read more, TV less.

I think it's doable.