Tuesday, May 22, 2012

My Top Five Time Sucks

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I'll be the first to admit it: I have a weakness for certain websites. More specifically I have a weakness for Social Media. Mostly, I think it's because I'm a stay-at-home-mom, and conversations with a 4 and 8 year old can get kinda...well, you know.

For example my 8 year old decided to play a joke on me. It went a little like this:

8 Year Old: Mommy, say hi to your knee.
Me: Hi, Knee
8 Year Old: *giggling* You just said hiney.


Thought provoking, right?!

Here's my list of sites where I get my fix. I even linked them to my name so I won't be alone in the madness you can join in on the fun:

1. Twitter-  It's all about Fast Furious Conversations That You Cannot--something shiny!--Wait, what was I saying again? Never mind, it was so fifteen seconds ago.

2. Pinterest--Nowhere else (except a Martha Stewart magazine) can you be made to feel like an idiot for not realizing that a piece of metal, a couple of sticks and a plastic bottle will keep your kids enthralled for HOURS. I call BS on that one.

3. facebook- Admit it: you like seeing what your old high school and college friends are up to, what their house looks like, if their children are hellions and what *they* look like now.

4. Lady Scribes- Seriously, let us be your time suck. We're entertaining, informative and have chic women posing at the top of our page (especially that one with the heart-shaped purse). It's like we're the news, only romancier.

5. Email- Specifically hitting the refresh button every three seconds. Almost as exciting as staring at a pot of water while waiting for it to boil.


What's your favorite way to get lost on the internet?



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39 comments:

  1. Marquita ~ So true! I am a Twitter addict, myself. It is the easiest way for me to procrastinate on whatever I should be doing. Sometimes I have to pretend like it doesn't exist so I can get stuff done.

    And if people aren't following you there (or me for that matter) they are really missing out on some brilliant conversations. :)

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    1. LOL! Well, we are brilliant conversationalists, Ava! ;) Who wouldn't want to talk about frozen peas and hot hockey player heroes?!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Marquita,
    I like the hiney joke! ;D

    Twitter and FB are my top two. I just got on Pineterest, but I don't have time to really check it out. With Twitter and FB, I can pop on quickly from my iPhone to see what's going on with folks then I'm done. At least for the next 5 minutes. lol. What I like most about FB is it's easy to see people's pictures and updates. You have to be on twitter at just the right time to get in on a conversation, but the conversations tend to be more clever on twitter, imo.

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    1. She really got me on that one, Samantha. I had no idea where she was going with it.

      Smart phones do make it easier to pop in and out. I know I tend to use my phone while I'm sitting in carpool line. :D And I think the 140 character limit makes a person be very clever with their sentences. ;)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. Lists, Samantha! If you set up lists with various people on them, it is easy to sort through the tweets from those lists and not miss out on the conversation at Twitter. Yeah, you may be late to join in...but better late than never, right?

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  3. LOL!! I love this. Especially hitting refresh on my email. Got submissions out, huh? (UGGGHHHH)

    I'm another SAHM and writer. My kidlets are a bit younger (5 and 2 next week) but the conversations are just as enlightening.

    DS: Mom?
    Me: Yes?
    DS: Butt! *dissolves into fit of giggles*
    Me: *sigh*

    Social media gives me the impression of still having a social life.

    Great post, Marquita!!

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    1. I was thinking of you with the pinterest activity--we had a conversation about it on twitter. See, it's one big circle of time suck. ;)

      Marnee, your son sounds like my 4 year old. Underwear is *the* word for him.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Pssst, did you know if you have gmail, the page refreshes itself? You can just park yourself in there in a tab, and wait.

    Meanwhile, I've got Tweetdeck running, and oh, have you ever been sucked into Wikipedia clicking link after link until you realize you've just spent an hour or so clicking?

    If not, I can show you some addicting games...

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    1. Pfft, like I've got time to wait to gmail to do that, Ashlyn! ;)

      Ooh, Wikipedia's one I forgot. That is a major time suck!! And tell us about those games.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. I spend WAY too much time on Wikipedia sometimes. All for research purposes, at least at the beginning. But then I find out what I need to know and I keep clicking. *sigh*

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    3. Me too, Catherine ~ It is a treasure trove, kind of like Lays chips. You can never click on just one page. (You know what I mean.)

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  5. Time sucks...let me count the ways!

    Besides all the ones that you've mentioned, a big one for me is research. I go to look up just one small fact--just to verify something for a paragraph or even a sentence...and wake up two hours later. I've been lost to the world.

    Or once in a while I'll go searching for pics of prospective characters...that can take a LONG time. It's a hard job, perusing hot models and actors, but somebody has got to do it. :-)

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    1. Hot models and actors...too bad research wasn't like that in college, Deb! ;)

      On pinterest there are people who put up pictures from Twitter that you can find under the hashtag #mancandymonday. It's super awesome for...ah, researching.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Twitter is my absolute favorite time suck. I am addicted to Retweeting! People get so excited and happy when you just hit the RT button. I get all a flutter with good karma! :D And, since I feel like I'm so much more on top of things because I'm constantly tweeting about interesting blogs, but then I have to read them first to make sure they really are interesting, and yep, it's 10:00 a.m. and I haven't started writing yet.

    When kids are small they're absolutely adorable -- check that I said when they're small! ;D I can't remember all the things my kids used to say that cracked me up, but I do remember having a conversation with my daughter.

    Me - I don't remember, what I said.
    her -- why?
    me - Because I'm the boss.
    her -- No you're not. I'm the school bus!

    Still cracks me up! Okay, so, I'm easily amused.

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    1. I swear, Cynthia, it feels like I check Twitter each morning like it's my daily news or something. :)

      School bus, lol! Too cute!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Marquita,
    Twitter, hands down. I think it's the fluidity and connecting with people in an instant. And I love the challenge of saying something in 140 characters--usually nothing important, but hopefully entertaining. :)
    Pinterest is also a fabulous time suck for me--where else can you find DIY, funnies, food AND HOT MEN!!! <--Take note of the last item. Very important.

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    1. Very, very important last item. LOL.

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    2. It's certainly at the top of the list! Lol.

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    3. There were other things on your list, Andris? ;)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    4. Well, yeah, I mentioned food, didn't I?

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  8. Marquita,
    Your post made me laugh because even though you have tried your best to get me on Twitter, I haven't come over to the "dark side" yet. You know I only dabble in social media. I'll go on facebook/email/blogs for a little bit, quickly take care of business, and then want to read my Kindle for the rest of the day. So to answer your question, my biggest time suck is reading (romance, of course!) I could spend all day and night reading. Maybe one day I'll join the 21st century and tweet you but I wouldn't hold your breath on that one!! Hee, hee! : )

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    1. One day, MK, one day! I vow to corrupt you. Maybe there should be a shirt for romance writers: Come to the Dark Side; We Have HAWT HEROES.

      I think reading romance is a great time suck to have!

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  9. I have too many time sucks. Twitter is probably the one that I'm most addicted to, but I have done my best to streamline it through lists so I don't spend too much time searching for things. But once I get on there, I have to give myself a time limit and then get off. I bought a little timer. I meant to use it for writing sprints...but I use it far more often for limiting my time on social media.

    Oh, and one that no one has talked about that is a HUGE time suck for me...reading hockey news and blogs. You know, I watch the games...but then I have to go and read every article out there about the game after the fact, like I didn't watch it in the first place. LOL. It's an addiction. I've got a few hockey blogs that I read every post, every day (and they post anywhere from 2 to 10 posts a day each), plus I troll for news articles and the like.

    It's a sickness. And I know it. In fact, I've started late on some writing sprints because I started reading a hockey blog, and then kept reading and kept reading, and then realized I should have already been writing, but kept reading some more instead.

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    1. We all have our own, very personalized time sucks, Catherine. I just mentioned the ones that wouldn't make me look too crazy. LOL!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. Wait...does that mean you think I'm crazy? LOL. Or just "too crazy..." BWAH!

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    3. No, I think you're very brave. LOL!

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  10. Facebook is my drug of choice LOL. That being said I am also a major game junkie, Farmville addict as well. I haven't really caught the Pininterest or Twitter waves, but I do spend a lot browsing author blogs, review blogs etc. I guess I can include my own, I keep checking for that first reply comment lol.

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    1. That's one thing I've stayed away from on facebook is Farmville, Misty. I'm sure I'd get so sucked into it, that I'd forget I even had a family.

      And I love author blogs,too. That's why I mentioned Lady Scribes, lol!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. I steadfastly, stubbornly, and willfully REFUSE to get on Pinterest. I can already tell you that I would fall waaay too easily into that rabbit hole, and for the sake of my sanity (i.e. living in reality), I need to stay the heck away. Far, far away.
    Unfortunately, I do have the sucks of Twitter and Facebook, sooo... yeah.

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    1. I don't blame you, Erin. Pinterest is a sneaky thing. You're on there searching for super cool party favors and the next thing you know, you're pinning pictures of your dream house on Mars. or something like that.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. I only gave in to the draw of Pinterest after going to a social media marketing workshop at RT. Surprisingly, I've found that it is very easy to just spend a few minutes a day pinning things, and then move on with my day. :)

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  12. Hi Marquita! :)
    Great blog. I have to say my major time suck is Twitter. It's a constant. "Oh, let me check my twitter feed, see what new tweets have come in!" I love being able to connect with my fav authors on there, and the instant back and forth give and take with frieds. I only joined about 8 months ago, and I'd be lost without it. It has also helped my writing tremendously because it's been a great support system and the sprints help me stay accountable to make sure I meet my wordcount quotas. Sometimes part of me wishes I'd never joined because I'm sure I'd be so much more productive without it, but without twitter, I'd never have met YOU or so many other lovely people, and that would just be wrong!!!

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    1. Lisa, you are too sweet. And it's been so much fun chatting with you on Twitter. I wish you the best of luck (though I know you won't need it) for when you start submitting your work. Some luck agent/editor is going to snap you up and be so thrilled that they did!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. Hi Marquita- Since I have move I used the internet more to socialize, which is really sad. Because I love the interaction of other people. So I spend a lot of time on Twitter, I have been going to Facebook more, I haven't really done anything on Pinterest and read blogs. However, I'm glad to have twitter and all you guys to make me laugh when I'm feeling down.

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    1. Melody, you are so much fun to talk to on Twitter. I really enjoy that particular form of social media because I feel like I get to talk to tons of people I'd normally be too shy to speak to in person.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  14. Oh I have the same issues with social media. It's addictive. I am trying to cut back on it though as it's taking up too much of my writing time and my family time. But do love twitter though. Wish me luck because even now I want to check in. But I'm trying to make it a once a day thing. We'll see how long that lasts LOL. Great blog! And I am so with you on the conversation with a little one...My 4yr old's current word is "boobies" which he learned from his blockhead of a father. LOL I have way too much testosterone in my house so I really crave some female companionship lol.

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    1. I hear you, Suzie. I think I need to make myself a schedule with Social Media time in bold lettering and strict time tables, lol!

      Oh my 4 year old is obsessed with "boobies" too. He likes to draw them on his dsi. smh :}

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. I'm not on Facebook and don't tweet, but I do like to visit the Twitter pages of some of my favorite comedians like Joel McHale and Stephen Colbert. I used to spend a lot of time on eBay, but nowadays I browse on sites like Sephora and Zappos.

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    1. I like Stephen Colbert, too, Jane. I even follow him on Twitter.

      Have you tried modclothes? They have such cute vintage inspired stuff like the kind Jess wears on New Girl. Which brings me to another time suck, Hulu.com.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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