A reflection on today, yesterday and tomorrow. . .
Oh, my! How will I ever get caught up? I think the term ‘catch up’ only holds true for that thick, tomatoey goo that cloaks my French fries and oozes between the hot hog and hamburger buns!
Here it is 6:00 AM and I check my email to find an inbox of 25 messages. Not bad, I can tackle that in no time. Ah-ha! BUT each one of those leads to another link which may or may not stop there. By the time I read maybe five messages and their outlyers, I return to my inbox and now there are 30 messages. Hey, I just read five, why isn’t it down to 20? Now, I am on the verge of getting agitated. I take a break just to calm down and return to an inbox of 50 messages! Will it ever stop?
Side Note: Would you believe I found a message today referencing the e-Notch? Ever heard of it? Well, I had not either but then discovered it has been around way before the age of technology, before even the idea of any technology, maybe even before the word itself. Recognize it from the picture? It is the cut out found on the end of an arrowhead. Go figure!
Then, there is Twitter. Tweet, Tweet, Tweet – what a charming little sound while sitting on the back porch as I have my morning coffee. Not this bird! 
It tweets and tweets and tweets and…never stops!!!! 24/7 this little nuance sings. Since e-mail already has me in a tizzy I decide to access Twitter. Um-m-m? Maybe 20 to 30 tweets. Most of these little birdies have not started chirping since it is now almost 6:30 AM. So I briskly scan the messages, retweet a few and favorite one or two. My husband walks in and says ‘hubby’ time, get off the computer. I close everything out and happily leave the online conversations to buzz away in cyber space collecting more and more messages while I am away. Of course, you know what I find upon returning – 128 tweets with new ones popping up as fast as kernals of corn releasing their energy in a popcorn popper!
Exiting the bird cage and re-entering the world of electronic mail, I find someone (more like somebodies plural) has repinned one or more of my 
bulletin board pins on Pinterest. Now, this is probably my favorite, next to blogs because it is a virtual picture world. Being more of a visual person, I enjoy visiting all the ‘sights’ posted by others. I hate being just a number on someone’s board of followers so I try to return the favor as often as possible. Some I click to Follow in hopes of returning to explore more of their boards. Doesn’t happen! Time is definitely out the window by this hour and I am only getting started.
Computer time is interrupted by pre-scheduled doctors’ appointments that I had rather miss than grace their hallowed offices. Doctors have no sense of time except their own, especially during two-hour lunch breaks, and have no regard for anyone having to wait, wait, wait. Reminds me of the story when the doctor made the house call and was told to wait until grandpa returned from the field! Love it! Anyway, three hours later after visiting Dracula and the Vice-gripper, I stop by a Quick ‘n’ Handy for some awesome chicken salad and return home.
Needless to say, after engaging hubby in some interesting (you know exciting) conversation from the doctors’ visits, I get back to the computer. I am already tired but realize that I have not even touched upon 
LinkedIn, Goodreads, Bloggers.com, Amazon Author Central or Klout. At this time, there are 87 messages in my inbox and close to 200 on Twitter (I know that is just pittance to some!). It is now fast approaching 9:30 PM (EST) as I complete this blog post. Oh, dear! I forgot my new venture – “Voyage en éphémère.” That will have to wait until tomorrow. . . more on than later, my friends. There is no end to this virtual world of hours. “In a minute, Babe. . .”
In closing, we have e-M, e-P, e-G, e-B, e-A , e-K and of course e-T. ET? No wonder! We are all in the clutches of aliens with powers to weave in and out the microfibers of cyberspace absorbing our thoughts and passing them from e-This to e-That. . .
Are all the avenues worth exploring or is it just a numbers’ game?
How do you handle them all? Any secrets?
Would love to hear your thoughts. . .
catnipoflife 
I’m so there with you on this and I’m patiently (okay, maybe not so patiently) waiting to hear your solution to this electronic overload!
Hey! You are suppose to provide ME with the solution:>) Maybe one will show up. . .you never know! I just replied to comments posted on Writing: Gift or Curse? I think all of this social media just might be the writing curse! LOL:>)
I was keeping up… kinda …sorta, well okay not really! Just thought it was me because I’ve been running around but I’m so happy to know I’m not alone! 🙂
Definitely NOT alone!
I try to prioritize, but that doesn’t always work! After all, how do you know what’s a priority message or link until you click on it and read it? If I find an answer to dealing with all this social media, I’ll let you know but don’t count on that happening any time soon. Who has time to think and figure stuff out?
You can see how behind I am since you posted this message on Aug 2 and today is Aug 8! UGH! I hate to be late in posting replies. Please find the answer and pass it along:>)
Fascinated to see that I’m not the only one struggling with overload…. and I don’t do twitter and all the other little monsters!
Twitter is the real monster! Those little chirps never stop!
Yes I can relate to all this email. It stacks up as fast as you go through it. I know I’ll never totally catch up because I don’t have that much time. My inbox always has a minimum of 3500 messages in it. I get between 200-300 new ones a day so there is no way, not if I am to get anything else done.
On top of this, I only add to the problem because I email links to myself that I want to go back to, but don’t have time to read just then. I hope I’m not the only crazy one that does this. I get called away a lot so I have to do that if I find something notable along the way that I want to delve into later in the day.
3500???? OMG And I think the 70 facing me is a lot…oh, dear! Can’t even think about the hundreds, let alone thousands!
I let lots of posts and e-mail slip by. I kinda rotate between groups. One day I’ll be the social-psychologist and answer e-mail and tweets about disabilities. Another day I may focus on another problem. Some days I ignore the virtual world to live in the physical world. Some days I work on my writing. I just keep rotating through the list.
Delinda, that sounds like a plan! I know I definitely try to do too much in one day. I just HATE to be somebody’s number!
Sharla interesting article. I also spend much time on the computer, but also a call to go on blogs. But I chose, although I am on twitter, facebook and trumbl not scatter me. So I wear my interest, primarily, to wordpress blogs. There are enough interesting articles and photographs, to look after. Also, I like to say what I think of what I have read or seen. And also, I create relationships with people. Sharla good day.
Gys, thank you for your insights! I much prefer to spend most of my time writing or blogging. There are many times I just check off a series of emails and hit the delete button. Don’t even try to master all the tweets. Whenever I do make it into Twitter, what I see on the page is usually what I read. Sometimes I will page through but not always.
Sharla, the one posting ahead of me said the only things that makes our overfilled days right–we meet such wonderful people–who may become lifelong friends and suppporters in the frustrating, lonely word of writing/marketing. You just had one of my days today. I finally got caught up tonight and did a few things only for me on the PC–what a nice change :).
Hugs
Micki
How great, Micki! The best is definitely all the wonderful friendships gathered in the blogging world. When I first started, I had to look up the definition of the word, blogger. Never did I envision such wonderful relationships:>)
Hugs to you, too! Pur-r-r-r!
Hi Sharla, each morning I start the day with a cup of coffee and consider devising a methodology (if you will) to streamline all those things you and your commenters are speaking of. In the sci-fi world I’ve come up with some great solutions, in the real time world I’m still struggling like the rest of you. But it is so wonderfully addictive, isn’t it? Great post, I enjoyed the visit! 🙂
You are so right about the addiction! It is those times when my butt goes to sleep that I know I have been at the computer way too long…LOL:>)
Sharla, I have the same problem, and it is a big part of the reason I spend very little of my day with actual writing! I’ve got the cart before the horse to some extent. One idea that works for me is to figure out the purpose of each of my social media. I use Facebook for personal friends, Twitter and Pinterest mostly for inspiration, LinkedIn for relationships with writers and business people. Having a focus helps somewhat, but I’m still overwhelmed. .
Other than the blog, Pinterest and LinkedIn are my favorites. In fb and Twitter, I feel like a number. It is that word Like which has become overwhelming. What is the tribute for simply Liking a page? FB has not become a good resource for me. Family and personal friends don’t seem to respond much at all. It is LinkedIn that has brought about so many wonderful relationships. . .personally because of the writing connection. :>)
Sharla, you piqued my interest and I just invited you to connect on LinkedIn. I just signed up to follow you on Pinterest too. I am a newbie on Pinterest and from looking at your boards–I have a long way to go! Thank you for the inspiration.
Definitely will connect on LinkedIn! If you ever have any questions about Pinterest, let me know. You should enjoy this one and it is actually much easier to follow that any of the others. The pictures present the message and link to outside sites for the information. Feel free to repin anything you like:>)
[…] A reflection on today, yesterday and tomorrow. . . Oh, my! How will I ever get caught up? I think the term ‘catch up’ only holds true for that thick, tomatoey goo that cloaks my French … […]
And you asked me why I didn’t use Twitter! I have so MUCH EMAIL that if I actually read every post and checked every link I would never get up from in front of the computer. As it is, I have to fit the rest of my life around computer time, and that was not how I intended it. Funny how this stuff has taken over. The more I try to step back, the more there seems I should be doing. What happened to the long lazy days of retirement???
HEY! You sound like me….ditto, ditto, ditto!!!!!!
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[…] a sunset within the sea, shells and smells at the beach? Living in the fast-paced world of e-this & e-that makes it easy for life to become so stressful that the need to get away is at the top of the list. […]