Today I'm talking about how you feel when you're surfing online, browsing social media or checking your work email...
clean or dirty?
We all know the potential of the internet and what it can do for us, but the fact is, it can also be a major time-waster and energy drainer.
Are you using your time online to improve life or to check out of it?
Let's look at 'clean' and 'dirty' time online to help us understand how to live better online.
Clean time online is largely conscious. You're in your body and your brain. You're there for a reason and it's meaningful, whether it be for fun, to connect with others, to do a job (pay a bill, research, buy something) or to work. Once your task is complete, you are done.
Dirty time online is largely unconscious time. You ended up online because it's habit or you can't be bothered doing anything else. You are clicking, scrolling and browsing for no particular reason and getting next to nothing out of it. You finish up online and feel tired and blah. There goes another night.
So think about your last session online and ask yourself these five questions:
1. Did you consciously choose to go online/connect to your email, or did your fingers do the walking before you could think twice?
Yes - Clean
No - Dirty
2. When you are online, are you just focused on that task? Being focused on more than one task means that you are online and doing other things e.g. watching tv, talking to someone, watching your kids, cooking dinner.
Yes - Clean
No - Dirty
3. Are you online to get something done - have fun, connect, research, shop, work - or because you are wanting to escape an unwanted feeling like boredom, irritation or loneliness?
Yes - Clean
No - Dirty
4. After the task is done, do you go offline and get back to living your life?
Yes - Clean
No - Dirty
5. When you go offline, do you feel more energised and satisfied than you did before you started?
Yes - Clean
No - Dirty
If you're answering no to one or more of these questions, it's time to think about how you want to use the internet - to enhance or detract from your life.
To use the internet as a tool, rather than a stop-gap and compulsive habit aim for your time to be conscious, focused, purposeful, time-limited and energising.
To create some space to make wiser decisions about internet use and make the most of your life, get my free guide below.
Go gently,
Lara xx
Hi, I'm Dr Lara Corr, life coach and researcher in work and wellbeing. I coach successful 30 and 40 somethings who want more fulfilling or bigger careers but doubt themselves and their options. I help them get out of their own way, find direction and go for what they really want.