Confessions of a Clickaholic

When you are crafting and in business, your time is valuable—you’re literally building your career with your own two hands! However, when you’re an online seller, distractions are everywhere.

Hello, my name is Lisa and I’m a Clickaholic. In other words, I am an obsessive internet-clicker—my right index finger taps the computer mouse as naturally (and as often) as a heart beats. Nothing on the internet satisfies my need to know what’s happening, so I click and surf through all of my favorite sites (it’s especially unconscious behavior when I’m tired or procrastinating), waiting for something new to happen.

In the motivational book, This Year I Will…: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True author M.J. Ryan titled one chapter: “What Need is Being Served by What You’re Doing Now?”  For me, 2011 is about growth, and I’m committed to asking myself questions like M.J.’s all the time. Another version of that question is, “If this moment were a dollar, am I investing it? Or burning it?”

When I find myself saying that I’m “so busy,” I have to evaluate my schedule. 9 times out of 10, I’m so busy because the computer has been on all day and I’ve been clicking away on it, and therefore, eating up hours of valuable time. If you’re not a clicker, I challenge you to figure out where your time may be wasted.

It might be TV, virtual games (Candy Crush, anyone?), or YouTube. Our time wasters usually involve screens. Have you ever turned off all of the screens in your home and realized how productive you were that day?  Once you have identified your time waster, it’s time to ask:

When are you most prone to time-wasting?

My susceptible time-wasting hours are in the morning, as my children are peacefully plotting the day’s play together. So that I will use this time wisely, I send this question to my phone via Google Calendar pop-ups: “What are you doing to get more orders right now?” You can also post this message on your computer, or wherever else you’re prone to time-wasting.

And please don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean work, work, and more work. In order to succeed, we need plenty of time for rest, rejuvenation, and reflection. Sometimes, a good flick and a hot cup of coffee on a cold, rainy afternoon is as important an investment as filling a big order.

How are you investing your moments? When you spend your minutes wisely, your effort is always rewarded. Here’s wishing you awareness of how you use your precious time!