Today I had a computer-free morning. Not because I had to run errands, shuttle kids, or clean the house, but because I wanted to. It was great. I should do it more often.

Taking the morning off sounds like such a simple thing, but I sometimes spend 10-15 hours in front of the computer (not always writing, unfortunately), even on weekends. A break is a big deal.

I had originally planned to keep my computer offline and write, but I wasn't ready. The scene was churning, but not ready to be committed to binary. So, I read a book. One that has been on my pile for a while, but kept getting pushed down for other books that needed to be returned to a neighbor or the library.

Here's the big revelation. When I logged on during lunch to check email and Twitter, I hadn't really missed much. Yes, some of the Twitter chatter is lost forever. I'm sure I'll survive. That lesson alone was worth the five hours unplugged! 😉

I need to spend less time in front of the screen, and more of my screen time writing. The only way to do that is to limit my time online. Back in January I set some goals that included how much time I'd spend on things like Facebook (which gets a lot less attention now that I tweet) and reading blogs. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of the daily plan.

Today was a good lesson. Not only did I enjoy my screen break, but it was good for my creative juices. I had a little inspiration at the gym that took the scene I'd been pondering and turned it into 2-3 scenes. A bit of my heroine's background that played a minor role before just became an important part of the story. I love when that happens!

So, you may see me on Twitter less–if not, feel free to berate me publicly–and I'll be cutting out or procrastinating some of my blog/article reading (using instapaper.com to save without adding more bookmarks has been great).

I want to be able to write and read. To network with friends without spending my entire day at the keyboard. To walk the dog or go to lunch with a friend without feeling guilty about the time away from my precious laptop.

Next time my MacBook is charging its batteries, I'll be recharging my own.

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