Random thoughts on my computer co-dependency

I once went to a talk by a philosopher/psychologist who studied the way that tools can become an extension of our bodies: canes, glasses, scissors . . . if we get good enough with them, they begin to feel not like separate objects, but extensions of ourselves, he argued. Today my computer went through one of those required software upgrades and had to shut it self down and then reboot, leaving me with 15 or 20 minutes in the middle of the day during which I could not do anything with my computer. I had pored over my to-do list, and the only thing -- the only thing that I could do with my computer inaccessible to me there in the middle of the day -- was to go bug other people who were hard at work and tell them bad jokes. This is an indication that my relationship with my computer is perhaps a little bit too intense.

But at least I know a bunch of bad jokes. 

With my husband off in Madrid, I'm trying to get to bed at 8 and wake at 5. I try to finish up my email at 7 so I have one hour with no blue light, although I don't always succeed. One morning this week, I woke up and had 31 new emails waiting for me at 5 AM. Another morning I woke up and I had 24 new emails. Oh. My. Goodness.

My to-do list as an associate dean is getting so long, and so convoluted, that my paper planner method has become insufficient. Today, I combined my various to-do lists into an Excel spreadsheet, so that I could sort based on urgency or category of the tasks. I had 39 items at the beginning of the day. I had 45 at the end of the day. Well, at least I'm grateful for spreadsheets.

I love my "start dictation" button, and the fact that I can just speak aloud and have my computer write down mostly what I say. When my brain starts dribbling out my ears, I become a terrible typist. Huzzah for dictation!