“Cats is sitting on my computer.” In my house this has became a classic excuse to take my eyed off a computer screen. Warm computer keyboard is a cat magnet, but it’s also a sign you’ve been typing for too long. A cat jumping on my keyboard is often a gentle reminder for attention. Contrary to common belief, cats seek attention quite regularly.
In the world full of technology, we often forget ourselves. I spend countless hours staring at screens, watches, phones, tablets, computers, TV…I used to read much more. I try to fix it. It’s hard. We are all addicted to our gadgets. They act through the same brain pathways as other addictions, but that’s a complicated topic for today.
One way I found useful to help myself, is to limit a number of notifications from apps other than email, calendar and text messaging. Otherwise it’s all news apps sending me notifications about the same major event. Sometimes repetition is useful, most often it is distracting.
I try to be better. It’s a constant conscious effort. Sometimes I fail, but sometimes I succeed. One on the main ways to distract me from screen time are good books. Printed books. Thus, I renewed my library card, and decided to read more. That’s one beauty of living in a big city, public libraries have most major new books.
My new goal: less screen and more paper.
Marta Grońska-Pęski 