Biggest Time Wasters

definitely the internet. I can spend hours surfing and looking at nonsense in the name of research! For what I have no idea. And lately I have been a Spider Solitaire addict. I can't seem to play just one game and wind up playing for far too long. I read someone else's goal to curb internet time by not loading brower until noon and thought I would try that - but here it is 8 am and I have already blown it for today!

The internet and games, yes.

Sometimes Instant Messenger chat with friends as well.

Nothing is a bigger timepit for me than the internet: GoogleReader (brings out my i-ADD), favorite blogs, FORUMS!, and general surfing.

I know I could fall down the games pit, but I avoid them at all costs. Every once in a blue moon, I'll try one and I see how obsessive they make me, so I shut that door real fast.

I got rid of my TV a few months back and I'm so glad I did. I do get Netflix a couple of times a month, but that's not compelling the same way as flipping the TV on and channel surfing. Sometimes a DVD will sit there for weeks.

For me the internet as well. Since it's both my job and what I do in my spare time, I think that between 5 AM and 10 PM I'm there are only 2-3 hours that I'm not working on my computer . Hm, I didn't even really realise that before this post! Guess it's time to change that!

And the only reason that I never played WoW , despite all the great things I've heard about it, is that I was 100% sure that I'd become completely addicted to it. So, I chose for prevention, and never started playing :)

For me the internet as well. Since it's both my job and what I do in my spare time, I think that between 5 AM and 10 PM I'm there are only 2-3 hours that I'm not working on my computer . Hm, I didn't even really realise that before this post! Guess it's time to change that!

And the only reason that I never played WoW , despite all the great things I've heard about it, is that I was 100% sure that I'd become completely addicted to it. So, I chose for preention, and never started playing :)

-"Gerto"

You're a stronger person than I :)

I too was addicted to WoW. I finally cancled my subscription after seeing how it affected my grades, but started playing again this summer after I finished all my summer courses. Oddly enough, in the last couple weeks that I have had it running I have rarely played it for more than an hour or so a day, and am considering just removing it again because I just am not that interested in it anymore.

The internet is definatley another time-sink, although I wouldn't call it ALL bad :P However, I work in an office for about 8 hours M-F and I generally only recieve about 1-3 hours in actual work (Gotta love how public universities spend their money). I spend most of those 40 hours a week either reading a book or surfing the internet, but I am looking for ways to make my time more constructive. A blog is an option but I prefer a bit more active intercourse such as chat rooms/forums rather than the post a blog and recieve feedback communication. If anyone has suggestions of productive activities I could do at work, please throw them out there!

I too was addicted to WoW. I finally cancled my subscription after seeing how it affected my grades, but started playing again this summer after I finished all my summer courses. Oddly enough, in the last couple weeks that I have had it running I have rarely played it for more than an hour or so a day, and am considering just removing it again because I just am not that interested in it anymore.

-"Doug"

I did the same exact thing with my WoW subscription. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep playing when I go back to school yet. One benefit I have to playing WoW though is that it will allow me to keep in touch with my 4 younger brothers. It's nice to have something that we are all interested in and can talk about.

1. World of Warcraft - To answer your question, yes, I am a nerd. I play this game way too much. Actually, last year during the school year I canceled my subscription because it was taking up too much of a time. However, it's summer now so I have once again started playing. I'm going to reevaluate this once school starts again.

-"spurlis"

Ooooh yes. I actually just canceled my subscription a few weeks ago - basically the guild into which I'd poured a lot of time and effort disintegrated, and it was so disheartening that I canceled my account. Through WoW, I managed to avoid hurt and stress and all kinds of unpleasant emotions, but simultaneously my life began to unravel and my goals seemed more and more distant. The worst part of it is that after a while, nothing seems to give you that "high" like it does. So I took the "out" that was given me by the guild disbanding and closed that door behind me.

Honestly, right now I am beginning to question whether computer games have any place in my life at all. MMOs are the worst, but all of the computer games I enjoy (mostly turn-based and RT strategy) have that "time-stopping" avoidance quality to them. I've dabbled in a few games since I quit WoW, and have noticed some deleterious effects even there.

Maybe that's why we all end up here... because we have that easily-addicted quality to us and are looking for answers...

Well, judging by the overall success of the game I would say that it says something about our world as a whole. We really are social beings, but for some reason we seem to be losing the art of communication without some sort of barrier. Even places such as this forum give us a wall to hide behind, and require less social risk than real life interaction. Animosity from the internet has changed our social landscape, and I think it has caused a lot of people to second-guess themselves more often then past generations.

I don't even want to know what WoW is - I refuse to even google it!

First for me it was Everquest, then WoW, then I just quit. Never regretted doing it (that is quitting).
Now my biggest time waster is some crazy ideas that I try to implement (software tools, web sites etc) - but I'm having fun doing it so I consider it as a hobby and I think it's fine as long as it doesn't affect your job and family.

MMORPGs are the epitome of wasting time on the internet. I too, used to sink a large chunk of time into WoW. Since being deployed, I haven't been able to log on in 3 months, and as such canceled my account before I left. At this point I highly doubt that I'm going to restart the account when I get back in October.

Of fthe topic of WoW, I will add that the internet is pretty much the biggest time waster for me - especially LJ, blogs, and forums (har har). I am trying to strictly control how much I "use." At work I use the Firefox plugin PageAddict (mentioned on a ZenHabits guest blog) to control the amount of time I spend on certain sites. Other than that I try to follow Leo's suggestions - work in bursts, time yourself, only check your feeds twice a day, etc. I'm still finding it hard to turn off my computer and go to bed at night, though!

Email, Google Reader, Zen Habits and now this forum. :)

I've developed a kind of compulsion to empty my inbox and Google Reader, to read over all the posts of this forum, and to read (and respond to if possible) the comments on Zen Habits.

That means that in between tasks, I often find myself checking these things.

I've worked on this, but I'm not perfect yet. I suspect I never will be, and that's OK.

I have to agree with you all about the MMORPG's... It wasn't WoW for me though, it was FFXI and now Lotro. GReader, forums, IM's and social networking sites are easy to waste time on too. I enjoy the time spent doing these things though. It hasn't affected my relationship since my husband loves doing all these things as well. We play Lotro together. :D It also hasn't affected my work at all. So I'm not ready to change it just yet. I know when we decide to have kids I will have to cut down the computer time, but until then I'm going to enjoy it. Zamourai_02

I'd been a gamer for a good 7-8 years and even got into it competitively, but games like WoW could never catch my attention and just bore me to tears.

My time wasters would be MSN, IRC and forums. I spent a lot of time on them, and also reading my news feeds but thats pretty much all I used for the internet these days. Maybe 2 or 3 hours to play some games on a weekend if I'm not doing much.

I'd have to confess I'm also IADD, constantly alt tabbing between programs like a bad twitch.

Biggest time waster?

My job. :D

Television!

Nothing hurts more than idly flipping through channel after channel, expecting (my definition of) the most interesting program ever to appear on the next one. What inevitably follows instead, is remorse.

Cable TV is the devil.

Television!

Nothing hurts more than idly flipping through channel after channel, expecting (my definition of) the most interesting program ever to appear on the next one. What inevitably follows instead, is remorse.

Cable TV is the devil.

-"Abhijit"

I hear ya!! I have not had cable television for 10 years. I find I still waste time on the three channels I do get and have found some programs online. I can only imagine how much more time I would be wasting if I had cable. Last night I actually turned off the tv and read a book for an hour before going to bed.