Goodbye, Metafilter. Hello, cubicle.

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:43:12 -0800

How do I stop surfing the Internet at work so that I don't lose my job? I work in a cube at a computer all day writing, editing, and doing graphic design. While I work, I usually click back and forth from my task to reading articles on the Internet -- stuff from blogs and sites like Metafilter about politics, science, web design, you name it. (I know I can't be the only person around here who does this.) If our internet connection goes down, I feel cut off from the outside world; I have an almost constant need for external stimulii. No, I'm not ADHD; just a high-functioning information junkie.

At times I've felt guilty about my Internet tendencies; after all, time spent reading is not time spent working. But I justify it to myself by thinking that the "input" my brain gets feeds the "output" that I create. And I am productive -- not a superstar, but I get my work done and make my boss happy. My job is creative and challenging, but I have a high IQ and the ability to retain an absurd amount of this information I read; I feel like this is just what it takes to keep my overactive brain happy.

My company is going to start cracking down on "personal" Internet usage in the next few weeks, and I'd like to avoid getting busted. They're not just being Internet Nazis -- our company requires a massive amount of thruput to execute our Internet-based services, and employee Internet-usage sucks up bandwidth. (Being intentionally vague about my industry, but indeed, we stream a tremendous amount of data.) They'll be monitoring not only which sites we visit, but also the number of pages we load, so feed readers or GhostSurf won't really help.

Short term: what are some alternative ways to take rejuvinating "mental breaks" at the office? Are there little tasks, exercises, something I can do with a pen and paper that will get my brain out of a rut when I hit a wall? Frankly, I'm terrified that I'm not going to be able to give up my reading/surfing at work, and that this will lead to Job Problems.

Long term: am I seriously screwed up, or just lazy, that I can't manage to concentrate on work for 8 hours a day? I like my job, but I don't love it passionately -- is this a sign that I'm in the wrong field? Compensating for a lack of something in my work life? Or just the inevitable result of sticking a smart girl in a cubicle instead of graduate school? I spend relatively little time on the internet at home, so "Internet addict" doesn't really fit.

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Goodbye, Metafilter. Hello, cubicle.