Reverb#10 - Day 2

So the prompt for today is this:
Writing. What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing -- and can you eliminate it?

The answer doesn't just apply to writing, but to everything. It is a day to day distraction, prone to whims of impulsivity, whimsy, hours wasted and plans shoved aside. It is a distraction in the truest sense. It allows procrastination room to fester as much as it provides a welcome distraction from a really hard day or feeling lonely and disconnected. It is a necessary evil. It is what brought me to this challenge. "It" being the internet. Naturally.
Some might say it is a chosen distraction - I choose to shelve my plans aside and get lost for hours in blogs and online shopping. It is a social hub, thanks to Facebook and Twitter. It makes benign events and thoughts seem epic enough to tweet about. The internet and the identity it brings or creates is the face of the new generation. Kids today seem to feel this need to announce to everyone what they are doing. Privacy isn't hip anymore, at least not to the newer generations.
When I came home from the hospital the time at home was so lonely. My care was predominantly at my home so people came and went, but they were all there concerning the accident and my rehab. Not much of a distraction. As the excitement and novelty surrounding my predicament waned and fell from the collective radar the loneliness began to creep in. The internet gradually became something for me to do. I discovered al these blogs and stores and places that I had never known of. Etsy became a shopping heaven and eventually I began to meet people and form some relationships. I joined writing groups and online challenges. I found some pretty inspirational people to read about and soon my Inbox was flooded with daily blogs and posts. My Visa bore the brunt of my new hobby. Sometimes I wondered if my shopping was getting out of hand but I managed to restrain myself from bankruptcy. Buying myself presents to make up for hardships or pain or tough situations became an almost daily ritual. It was retail therapy to the max, dude. For awhile the distraction worked. It still does sometimes today. I've come to realize my shopping is ultimately a pick me up hit for my depression and anxiety concerning my situation. But, dude, do I look good!
But anyhow, the prompt. The last paragraph was a perfect example of the distraction the Internet can cause. Amazing.
Although the Internet and all the blogs, pages, shops, collective etc can provide inspiration and it certainly has. I didn't realize what a therapeutic tool the internet could be until I found the writing groups I belonged to. I wouldn't have met my writing coach. I wouldn't have found the motivation guru of the Net - Danielle LaPorte. And I wouldn't be going to Portland on a whim for a convention of remarkable people living remarkable lives, hosted by Chris Guillebreau. So although the internet prevents my writing, it also gives me material to write about. It allows me to exist in places outside of the accident. Hell, it even allows me to start to look back on what happened in the last year and begin to start healing.
My strategies for cutting down the mindless surfing - which I am so guilty of doing.
Close all open windows except for the document I am working on. Work for an hour or whenever creativity grabs a hold, and have a break every hour or so for ten minutes. If surfing is still a problem, take a notebook and a pen to the table and brainstorm or figure out an outline to what I am working on. I could always give myself 75 minutes of internet per day.
For now my personal challenge is to write every day here for the duration of this challenge. And to cut down my time spent surfing the net. I have some plans concerning the internet. Hopefully this challenge will provide the inspiration and motivation to proceed with them.