I’m embarrassed for what I’m about to share.
I hit mute on the TV before making a phone call. Then I scrolled through Twitter. Then I opened Slack. Did a FaceTime. I scrolled through Instagram. I opened ThinkOrSwim to check the market. All while riding the Peloton with the sound off.
I don’t spend much time thinking about the day-to-day of my life, but this hit me today when I realized the absurdity of it all.
I have mixed feelings about my addiction to everything. On the one hand, the internet takes away a lot of our time. On the other hand, it also gives a lot of it back.
We don’t have to go to work to be at work. We don’t have to go to the bank to balance our checkbook. We don’t have to go to the gym to work out. We don’t have to go to the restaurant to pick up dinner. We don’t have to fly across the country to get FaceTime with our loved ones.
The internet has taken away our ability to be bored. It’s also made us all very busy.
It’s wild how many different activities I (you, we, us) juggle on a daily basis. Getting the kids up and dressed. Work. Podcasts. Blogging. Household finances. Spending time with my wife. YouTube Videos. Cooking. Checking in with friends and family. Cleaning the house. Work. Putting the kids to bed. TV/Netflix/sports/movies. Books.
I’m not saying our parents didn’t have plenty going on, but not like this. Right?
I feel mentally stimulated all day. Not a minute is wasted. But wait, are most of these minutes wasted? It feels like the days are quickly turning into years. Slow down, damnit!
And yet, I have no desire to slow down. No interest in unplugging. I love it. Like, I really really love it.
That’s how I feel today. I have no idea how I’ll feel about the rat race as my kids get older. I know at some point I’m going to step off. I just don’t know when. All I know is that ride now I’m enjoying the ride.
We’re so hyper-stimulated today that it’s a mind f*ck to think about what your life could have been like if you existed in a different time. Imagine what it was like raising kids in the 1940s? Or being a child in the 1960s? Before computers. Before Facebook. Way before the internet.
We live in a 24/7 world for better and for worse. It’s exhausting and stressful and depressing and incredibly exciting all at the same time.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
