Now that everything is available, how do you cope?
January 24, 2015 2:11 PM Subscribe
Last year we finally received unlimited broadband internet and after years of dial-up and mobile internet with all of their relative limitations and knowing that I would, my addictive personality had begun to attempt to consume everything.
It's overwhelming and I've now reached the stage where I don't know what to do about it. My Twitter legend says that I'm "Intensely interested in everything" and that's the problem. Apart from some sport, I really am. Always have been but it's now become especially acute.
For a start there are the accumulated backlogs, the hundreds of videos playlisted in Youtube, the links stored in Pocket or favourited in Twitter. Oh and whatever's been sent to Kindle. All of which ignores everything in the real world I have sitting around the house waiting to be read/watched/listened to. Or broadcast on television. Or on the radio. Then available on catch-up.
I finally downloaded the Comixology app the other day. Just the free comics would take a solid week to read.
At the moment I've started watching my way through Alias again after having bought the boxed set in an HMV sale two years ago. I'm really enjoying it. But eight episodes in and I find myself wondering if I should be watching American Horror Story instead. Or House. Or ...
As you can imagine The Internet Archive is my intellectual and emotional Death Star.
Plus on top of all this how do you find time to watch linear television? Russell T Davies's many series Cucumber, Banana and Tofu began on Channel 4 this week. Two solid hours of programming a week for however many weeks. The reviews and word of mouth have been very good. But then I look at the pile of blu-rays I have unwatched, all of the content on the Netflix, the iPlayer, all the videos I've suggested I might "watch later" on Youtube and, well, everything else and I think do I want to? Do I need to?
How do you cope? How do you choose what to watch/read/listen to? What strategies do you have?
It's overwhelming and I've now reached the stage where I don't know what to do about it. My Twitter legend says that I'm "Intensely interested in everything" and that's the problem. Apart from some sport, I really am. Always have been but it's now become especially acute.
For a start there are the accumulated backlogs, the hundreds of videos playlisted in Youtube, the links stored in Pocket or favourited in Twitter. Oh and whatever's been sent to Kindle. All of which ignores everything in the real world I have sitting around the house waiting to be read/watched/listened to. Or broadcast on television. Or on the radio. Then available on catch-up.
I finally downloaded the Comixology app the other day. Just the free comics would take a solid week to read.
At the moment I've started watching my way through Alias again after having bought the boxed set in an HMV sale two years ago. I'm really enjoying it. But eight episodes in and I find myself wondering if I should be watching American Horror Story instead. Or House. Or ...
As you can imagine The Internet Archive is my intellectual and emotional Death Star.
Plus on top of all this how do you find time to watch linear television? Russell T Davies's many series Cucumber, Banana and Tofu began on Channel 4 this week. Two solid hours of programming a week for however many weeks. The reviews and word of mouth have been very good. But then I look at the pile of blu-rays I have unwatched, all of the content on the Netflix, the iPlayer, all the videos I've suggested I might "watch later" on Youtube and, well, everything else and I think do I want to? Do I need to?
How do you cope? How do you choose what to watch/read/listen to? What strategies do you have?
When it all gets too much for me, I turn off my screens. No internet, no tv, no phone. I go for a walk. I cook something that takes a lot of prep time. I write a to-do list of five items or so and do them. Or I'll run a bubble bath and sit in the dark, listening to the soft popopop of the bubbles as they dissolve.
I think you might benefit from turning off the screens for a day or a weekend & see how it feels. It's really liberating.
posted by mochapickle at 2:19 PM on January 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think you might benefit from turning off the screens for a day or a weekend & see how it feels. It's really liberating.
posted by mochapickle at 2:19 PM on January 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I start a lot of things and don't finish them. I might pick them up again sometime. Or not. Because they're digital, they don't take up so much room. Yeah, I should get back to Paradise Lost. You just reminded me.
posted by Obscure Reference at 2:21 PM on January 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Obscure Reference at 2:21 PM on January 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ages ago, when blog culture was new, there was an entry style called "the tab dump". It was a "I mean to get around to reading all of these some day, but really need to close the tabs on my browser". I've made many of them over the years.
In practice, it's a good way to say "okay, I gave them their due but that's over now".
Which is another way of reiterating If onlly I had a penguin...'s "delete the backlog".
posted by straw at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2015
In practice, it's a good way to say "okay, I gave them their due but that's over now".
Which is another way of reiterating If onlly I had a penguin...'s "delete the backlog".
posted by straw at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2015
Seconding the idea of deleting the backlog. Those blu-ray disks you bought? They are a sunk cost. Those old films on the Internet Archive? Forget them. Books you own and haven't read? Get them out of your house.
Then, like @mochapickle says, go for a walk. Think about what you want to consume. And when you get home, read/watch/listen to that. And if you don't have an answer -- one specific answer -- then do something else, like the laundry or talking to a friend of the phone.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Then, like @mochapickle says, go for a walk. Think about what you want to consume. And when you get home, read/watch/listen to that. And if you don't have an answer -- one specific answer -- then do something else, like the laundry or talking to a friend of the phone.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Underlying the description in your question is the message that all of that stuff that you are feeling overwhelmed by, all the stuff that is available....is going to still be available tomorrow. And the day after. And probably for a long time after that.
So keep that in mind that everything that is available now...will continue to be available. There's no rush. You sound rushed but there's no need to consume it all immediately.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
So keep that in mind that everything that is available now...will continue to be available. There's no rush. You sound rushed but there's no need to consume it all immediately.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I totally feel you. I have a full time job and a sort of second job because I try to do art every day. That does not leave time for all the books and movies and tv (especially British tv!) and podcasts and excellent articles on so many interesting subjects. And how about socializing in the real world. Holy cow.
I've reached a kind of acceptance that I will miss a lot of things. And I've gotten a bit better about identifying things I REALLY want to consume instead of things that sound cool or "everyone" is doing/watching/joining. And thank you for this thread because I am totally going to archive my whole inbox and try to keep it under 50 like I used to. (It's at 1,179 today.)
posted by Glinn at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2015
I've reached a kind of acceptance that I will miss a lot of things. And I've gotten a bit better about identifying things I REALLY want to consume instead of things that sound cool or "everyone" is doing/watching/joining. And thank you for this thread because I am totally going to archive my whole inbox and try to keep it under 50 like I used to. (It's at 1,179 today.)
posted by Glinn at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2015
Books you own and haven't read? Get them out of your house.
Let's not go crazy.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:38 PM on January 24, 2015 [15 favorites]
Let's not go crazy.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:38 PM on January 24, 2015 [15 favorites]
Stop saving stuff to look at later. No backlogs. Set yourself a budget for playing-media consumption - aka "tv time" - but delete the youtube lists and get rid of Pocket and don't save things just for the thin satisfaction of hoarding them. You say "we", and if that includes a partner, decide together that you're going to watch X amount of media together a day, only the very best stuff sticks, and that's it.
The other thing is that, in my experience, trying to finish the internet is indicative of issues elsewhere that need to be resolved. Either there's some depression/anxiety you're self-medicating, or you're suffering from a compulsive disorder that may need medication, at least for a while, to learn to manage, or you're avoiding something you don't want to face. Treat that "addictive personality" (that's a super-passive phrasing, though, and you should avoid it) and the addictions stop controlling you.
Or, last option: you simply aren't making choices in your life that are especially compelling and you're bored. That one's the most easily fixed.
We used to suffer from something I called Tivoppression, where the DVR's so full you feel obligated to watch 6 hours of bullshit a day to "catch up". The answer is to watch less bullshit, stop watching things when they become bullshit (nobody needs to go back and watch all of House. It was an amusing show, but it was the same show every week), and not trying to race everyone to be the first to watch everything. You can watch that RTD show next year, if it turns out to be that good.
We solved that problem, by the way, by getting rid of cable and DVRs. We watch what's on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix, and we don't really buy anything (certainly no physical media unless it's, like, to get it autographed, but also very few paid subscriptions). We watch TV over dinner, and then maybe one or two more things - rarely more than 2 hours, if that - and we do other things. Doing housework is "extra time" for listening to podcasts and audiobooks, but except for right at bedtime the policy is mostly that you have to be accomplishing something else at the same time.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:20 PM on January 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
The other thing is that, in my experience, trying to finish the internet is indicative of issues elsewhere that need to be resolved. Either there's some depression/anxiety you're self-medicating, or you're suffering from a compulsive disorder that may need medication, at least for a while, to learn to manage, or you're avoiding something you don't want to face. Treat that "addictive personality" (that's a super-passive phrasing, though, and you should avoid it) and the addictions stop controlling you.
Or, last option: you simply aren't making choices in your life that are especially compelling and you're bored. That one's the most easily fixed.
We used to suffer from something I called Tivoppression, where the DVR's so full you feel obligated to watch 6 hours of bullshit a day to "catch up". The answer is to watch less bullshit, stop watching things when they become bullshit (nobody needs to go back and watch all of House. It was an amusing show, but it was the same show every week), and not trying to race everyone to be the first to watch everything. You can watch that RTD show next year, if it turns out to be that good.
We solved that problem, by the way, by getting rid of cable and DVRs. We watch what's on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix, and we don't really buy anything (certainly no physical media unless it's, like, to get it autographed, but also very few paid subscriptions). We watch TV over dinner, and then maybe one or two more things - rarely more than 2 hours, if that - and we do other things. Doing housework is "extra time" for listening to podcasts and audiobooks, but except for right at bedtime the policy is mostly that you have to be accomplishing something else at the same time.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:20 PM on January 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Taking you at your word, you're describing an addictive/compulsive behavior; one that could be helped with therapy. To a certain extent most of us face, "I must see all the Internet things and how can I do that," but your situation is causing you distress.
We can give you hacks about how to limit screen time and get outside or read books or whatever. But I think you need to consider short term CBT to learn how to deal with the feelings.
posted by kinetic at 7:04 AM on January 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
We can give you hacks about how to limit screen time and get outside or read books or whatever. But I think you need to consider short term CBT to learn how to deal with the feelings.
posted by kinetic at 7:04 AM on January 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Seconding Tandem Affinity. It's all going to be there tomorrow, you don't have to grab or watch everything now.
To paraphrase Pastabagel's immortal wisdom on avoiding covetousness (and hoarding): Everything on the internet is yours, you just need to pay to get it out of storage if you want it later.
posted by escapepod at 10:35 PM on January 25, 2015
To paraphrase Pastabagel's immortal wisdom on avoiding covetousness (and hoarding): Everything on the internet is yours, you just need to pay to get it out of storage if you want it later.
posted by escapepod at 10:35 PM on January 25, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Every now and then I just archive my whole inbox. It's stuff I've kept to deal with later, but if I haven't dealt with it and no harm has come to me, then obviously I can just not deal with it. Archive it. Problem solved.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:19 PM on January 24, 2015 [6 favorites]