I understand why people in the earlier centuries were so productive. They weren't beset by the distractions of technology. I find myself checking social media, my FB groups, memes so on almost every 10 minutes and once I start I don't stop quickly. I even wonder how I manage to get any work done at all. I clearly do because... well, proof in the pudding and all that. I think if I didn't get work done or I got shoddy stuff done it would help me fix my work habits immensely. It would make me feel very guilty and remorseful and I would perhaps then try to find ways to not give in to temptation. Not that I haven't tried! I generally keep my phone in the other room so I have to make some effort to get it but even then I feel like I look at it too much.

You might be wondering what's the problem if work's getting done and getting done well. I do believe I am far more productive than my counterparts but I feel I shouldn't be comparing myself to other people to figure out if I am doing fine. The point is that I could be more productive if I used my time better. But then I think to myself—no one can work intensively 12 hours a day, at least I can't? What's the harm if I use social media for relaxation or distraction or to have conversations with intelligent folks. I have anyway less avenues for all this with the pandemic going on. I guess the problem is not the distraction or relaxation or the time off itself but the nature of it or the fact that it drains my mental and sometimes even emotional batteries in a way. Even after I switch off from the distraction I chew on it. If I went out for a walk or to shop I could have come back with a rather refreshed mind. During these type of activities I could process my work in the background so maybe I would even have some solutions when I get back. But that's not the case with social media consumption. It actually takes away my attention to different problems, different topics... away from the things I should be consumed by; I think about those things when I am working rather than the other way round. I guess that's the main issue. I can't deny that sometimes these other problems or topics have actually led me to insights that were useful in my research. Also, I think it's necessary to know what's going on in the practical world, what is top of the mind in the world, what sort of things are in fashion in multiple senses of the term and so on. I suppose what I am coming at is that giving it all up would be to throw the baby with the bath water. I need a way to maintain balance. Not sure how to do that because it's a bit like carbs... if you have a little, you want to have more :)