Ever find that what started as one web browser tab is now 19 tabs over 4 different windows? I have a system; all similar topics stay in one window. For example, one window for writing-related stuff, one for business, another for yoga training, and yet another for any personal administrative items. I don’t close these tabs when I get buried under work, thinking I may need that specific gem of internet wisdom handy. The faster I want to work, the greater the open tab count so I can quickly toggle between tasks. Soon that system itself overwhelms because it’s hard to do all four tasks well in one day.
In tandem, the “very smart phone” is spinning its own web of notifications. What starts off as no notifications on the phone becomes “only these two useful apps”, which is now more like five. The much needed physical therapy app, the chat app to keep me connected with loved ones from afar, the smart doorbell to ensure safety in turbulent times and so on….each of them useful and with their own customizable notification set.
On days when I have an audacious agenda though—especially when I’m already low on sleep, nutrition and movement—these open tabs and pinging notifications seem to shoot arrows my way to break attention. On such days, I close it all. Shut it down. All of it. And instantly feels like a load got lifted. Ah!
It doesn’t matter if something is left unread and unattended. If it is important, it will resurface. Something in me wants a fresh start for the day and week, even if that happens to be on a Thursday.
“What is freedom? It is the moment-by-moment experience of not being run by one’s own reactive mechanisms.” — Ken McLeod
