After a working weekend (writing every day now, plus the talk I gave) I found myself worn out on Monday, generally running behind, and frustrated by the constant interruptions of social media, my phone, and the internet in general.

Sometimes I just need to unplug. And sometimes it requires a rather aggressive approach.

Technology isn’t going away and, unfortunately, several studies have shown that Facebook and the internet in general stimulate the same part of your brain that addictive drugs do. So I don’t know about you, but maybe we all need to learn how to disconnect.

That means learning to unplug. And sometimes—like other forms of addiction—the only way to do that is to attack the problem aggressively. To build it into your life through concrete actions.

Phone off and in the other room.

Computer off.

Social media blocked in browser.

Limit your screen time.

Whatever it takes to preserve your sanity.

Your mileage may vary but give it some thought.

So instead of tooling around on the outrage machine we call Twitter, I spent the rest of the evening reading Hyperion, which is excellent, and wondering why it took me so long to pick it up. I guess I just had to be in the right place for a sci-fi novel with a poetic and literary bent to it. That, and not distracted by my phone every fifteen seconds.