The Lenten season is back again, and it was very hard for me this year to determine what exactly to give up for Lent this year. In past years, I mostly stuck to giving up food or drink items - junk food, chocolate, or soda - but this year I am already missing some of the foods I cannot eat because I am pregnant, and so I decided that limiting myself even more would just drive me crazy. (And it's Girl Scout cookie season - can I really be expected to stop eating junk food when there are GIRL SCOUT COOKIES around??)
Instead, this year I have decided to give up all of the trashy celebrity webpages I use to distract myself from accomplishing real work. At 2:30 during an afternoon workday (particularly now that I am focused almost exclusively on writing my paper instead of doing benchwork), my mind slows down and thinking about science becomes harder to manage. I begin to browse the internet, and because the point is to not to think for awhile, I eventually shut my brain off completely and head to People.com or USWeekly.com (or sometimes, even TMZ.com), where suddenly whether or not Lindsay Lohan met her probation requirements becomes very, very interesting. My browsing of these celebrity webpages can last anywhere from 10 minutes on a slow tabloid news day to 30 - 40 minutes when "earth-shattering" news happens.
It's hard to regain my productivity after these mid-afternoon mind wanderings, and since the summer / maternity leave (seems like it) is fast approaching, I have decided to take these next 40 days to try to be less distracted at work. And so, so long celebrities...try not to make too many bad decisions while I am away.
(But don't worry, I can't possibly give up every distraction at work...you can still find me on Google chat, especially around 2:30ish?) :)
