Trouble Focusing

Lately I'm kinda worried about my own ability to focus on one thing. These days when I'm in front of the computer, it's SO easy to multitask. For example I'm writing a blog post or composing an email, and then suddenly an FB notification pops up and I'm tempted to click on it and respond before continuing writing my blog post or email. Other times I'm reading something online (or reading a Finnish book while using the online dictionaries) and again a notification for email or FB comment pops up and I'm tempted to respond to that first. Other times I need a break from reading something and then I switch to youtube (for example) or I'm doing something online and then someone sends me a chat request. These days I find that it's so easy to just jump from one thing to another without missing a beat. Am I the only one who feels this way, I wonder?

Mind you, I'm not even "connected online" through my mobile. I do get online sometimes when there's free Wifi on our holidays and while "doing my thing" in the upstairs toilet. I can't imagine how much harder it is to focus on something when you're also connected through your mobile 24/7 and then your mobile beeps whenever there's a new message. It gets easier and easier to get distracted these days. I wonder if in the long run this may cause concentration problems for the younger generation, because in the past there were less distractions and the pace of life was much slower. Even now I feel that I'm losing my ability to concentrate on ONE thing at a time. Gotta learn how to focus again (too much temptation LOL!!!).


P.S. GREAT news!!!!! A while ago I posted that a friend of mine may be having autoimmune disease, so she had a thorough check-up again and now she's been CLEARED from that first diagnosis. Another health issue of another friend's Mom has also been wiped away after a second check-up. SO HAPPY to hear these!!! :-D

Do You Get Tired?

I don't mean tired physically, but mentally and by mentally, I mean the kind of fatigue related to the online world. Sometimes with all the many things going on in this online world, such as Facebook, twitter, blogging, Yahoo Messenger, emails, and whatever else you're using to "be connected" to the world, I find myself wanting to shut everything down every now and then and just be in this present moment, be DISCONNECTED to everything else and everyone else except those in the present moment. This is one reason I LOVE going to the cabin in Kelujärvi 'coz there's no electricity there, so we can really disconnect.

I don't know if it's because I'm basically introverted or what, but that's how I've been feeling lately. Sometimes I'm confused whether or not I should comment on something, you know? Especially if the person's on my friends' list. Let's say that you see someone on your friends' list having a birthday today. You don't really know that person, so do you say happy birthday or not? Is it OK if you just say it "because it's the right thing to do", not because you actually care about that person's birthday because without the reminder in your social calendar, you won't even know/remember it? 

I know that it's fine even if I don't comment, but sometimes once you've read something and you don't comment on it, you feel like you've dropped by into someone's personal space without even saying "hi" (though the person doesn't necessarily even know that I've dropped by into his/her personal space). Is it just me or do you sometimes feel that way, too? Boy, that sentence sounded like being a stalker, actually ha ha...Or am I just thinking too much?

It feels sometimes as though the "rules of engagement" is really vague in this online world and that it's really tough to learn to limit yourself. I wonder how youngsters these days manage to handle both real world and online world, because many of them have been born surrounded with the internet and gadgets that help you connect to the world 24/7. Some articles have stated that one of the problems for kids nowadays is the lack of ability to focus. I'm getting to understand why. It's so easy to get distracted when reading an ebook using my PC for example when suddenly I can see an email notification coming up or an FB notification popping in my screen. Then I get tempted to stop reading to check the email/FB/whatever else is going on.

It's easier to focus reading a real book without being in front of the computer, but while reading Finnish books, it's much easier to use online dictionaries to find tough words so that I can read the book(s) faster. Anyhow, I should go back to reading ebooks now he he...before my holiday is over!!! Now let me just go get some hot tea first 'coz it's only 8'C outside!


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Whaddup

For the past few days I've been trying WhatsApp for PC because some friends wanted to chat with me using that program. I only have 7 trial days, but I don't think I'm going to pay 15 USD to use this program because of several reasons.

So many people nowadays are connected all the time, but not me. I don't know if I want to be connected 24/7. Even my bro once said how cool WhatsApp was (he uses Android), but I was hesitating. I once downloaded WhatsApp to my mobile, but because I don't have an ongoing internet subscription for my mobile, I realized that it kept on trying to connect even though I'd turned it off, so I decided to delete it. Plus I can't possibly use my mobile during work (always put it in a locker), so what's the use of getting 24/7 internet connection for my mobile if I don't have to travel a lot for work anyway? (Because I can still use my PC to connect at home when I don't have work)

What about WhatsApp for PC? Well, first of all due to the fact that I'm not connected 24/7, I find that chatting via WhatsApp is so...fragmented. Another part of the reason is also 'coz of my random work schedule as well as time differences between me and those friends in WhatsApp. So whenever I log in online using my PC, I've found tons of messages already going back and forth between a few friends and it feels...surreal.


 
I mean in the past none of this could happen. I felt as though I had entered a room filled with a few friends that had stopped talking (and sometimes they've already gone entirely from that room by the time I log in), but I could still view their WHOLE conversation if I wanted to ---> This also takes a lot of time if I log in after a few hundred of messages have been recorded. And moreover, commenting on their conversation felt like "lagging behind" because it had happened already.

I do feel that way sometimes with emails. Sometimes after a summer vacation with hubby when we don't check emails regularly, when we go back home then there are tons of them to read and then I have to think of which important emails to reply to first, but it's not as bad as the feeling of being "left behind" in this kind of WhatsApp chat program. I felt confused, not knowing where to start after being "left behind". Should I start babbling about another topic altogether?


But now after trying WhatsApp for a few days, I begin to understand more why those people in Indo who use BB (Blackberry) chat or WhatsApp to chat are ALWAYS online, because it can be addictive and once you start, it's hard to stop because otherwise you'll miss SO MUCH - logging on every once in a while will only cause so many fragmented conversations. On the other hand, it bothers me to remember the annoyance I felt at being around people who are always checking their mobile and typing stuff and updating the latest photos while they're spending time with me. I also have the fear of turning into those people who have to be "connected" all the time, because when I am spending quality time with my hubby and relatives, I want to focus on them instead of cyber world. And I want them to focus on spending time with me, too. 

glitter-graphics.com

In Indo, we have this term called "eksis" (yeah, based on the word "exist", though it doesn't really mean the same - I think it means "being active in cyber world"). Some people, if they haven't been active in some type of online group/site, consider themselves as "they don't exist". If they're so active in those groups, then they "eksis". It's kinda ironic to think of the pressure to "eksis" these days in Indo, because you DO exist even though you don't "eksis" in cyber world. 


I don't know about you, though...any POV? I do like technology and as you all know, I found love through the internet, but sometimes I feel that we're going into "uncharted territories" (boy, do I feel old/old-fashioned writing these words HA HA HAAHHHH...) and I'm not talking merely about cyber world, but the advance of technology in general. I read an article the other day that the impact of this "online world" can only be researched after a decade or two (if I'm not mistaken), because the current generation (Generation Z ) has spent their entire lives surrounded by the internet. 

Note: Maybe in the future I may feel differently about WhatsApp - dunno. But for the time being I just want to record this here for future reference.