How much time do you spend cruising the internet every week at work?  An hour? Two or three?   A survey done years ago, indicated that the average worker admitted to 2.09 hours wasted . . . every day…on the internet….at work…..while being paid….that’s at least 10 Hours Per Week!

I’m a freelancer, so I can’t take that much time away from my work – and if I do, I just end up working longer hours to make up for it because if I don’t get the work done, I don’t get paid.

But what really bugs me is that the time I do spend on the internet – reading news stories, catching up on celebrity gossip (yes, I’m guilty) – takes a big chunk of time away from the things I WANT to do. I do graphic design and business writing for a living – it pays the bills and feeds the cats – but I’m also a writer and have about 5 books written in my head that I’d like to actually put down on paper.

Right now I’m writing a children’s book . . . except, you see, I have to stop thinking about it and actually WRITE IT. I can’t do it during working hours – as I said, I have work to do.

Well, bizpain buddies – I’m going to give it a try. Now, unfortunately I can’t eliminate the internet altogether. I have to use it for legitimate business purposes like searching stock photography, researching stories, etc.

But here’s the deal . . . starting February 16 I will cease reading the news, checking the gossip sites and doing any other activities on the internet not DIRECTLY related with a work activity for 30 days. I’m changing my home page from cnn.com to the home page I’ve reserved for my children’s book – maybe staring at that blank page every time I launch my browser will be better motivation.

I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’ll be writing a journal every few days to tell you what it’s like to have to get your news from the newspaper or magazine (I don’t watch TV news – too sensational), calling the theater to check movie times and heavens yes – not knowing whether Angelina is pregnant again or not. 

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