Screen Time

I was an early adopter of the digital lifestyle. I began taking computer courses at college to fulfill the core curriculum requirements. At grad school, for a long time, I was the only one in the anthropology department who could run statistical programs on the university’s mainframe computers ( not too shabby for a high school dropout). In those days, we fed punch cards into the machine to give instructions. And s, I can attest that Star Trek was an early computer game we played, and ASCI Art was a real thing. 

You might say that my colleagues and I had forsaken any concept of screen time management early on. To our non-computational friends, It would appear that we were both brilliant and odd. Punched cards fanned out made interesting moire patterns when put up to the light. And I remember several “computer crafts’ projects where we made mobiles and lampshades from used punch cards.

Investing in personal computers when they became affordable was an easy choice. I wanted to run a statistical analysis on data I collected while working as a practicing anthropologist. And I was eager to play more computer games. As I began to work as a videographer, creating video editing software sealed the deal.

The computer quickly became an essential part of earning a living as an anthropologist, videographer, and woodcarver. I manage screen time by carving, gardening, cutting wood for the stove, doing martial arts, and other activities. However the concept of screen time is elusive. We balance so many digital components – editing videos, communicating with clients, friends, and associates, creating designs, banking, and more. I find it easy to break things up and leave the screen to load wood for the stove. Leave weeding to write. A play a game whenever.

Finding a rhythm that matches your desires and needs is what works best.