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Have you ever felt hyper-connected? Too much screen time and too much happening while you're on the computer? I'm on machines for an average of 8-10 hours a day. Yowser. I've made some changes in how I use these machines recently. Changes that are supposed to make me more productive, but they are simply leaving me frazzled.

Here are the new technologies that should be stepping it up but are just leaving me down:

Web Browser: Flock[Image]

I've been using Flock for a month now. It's a really good web browser that integrates my Flickr account so I can just drag and drop photos in that I'll want to post to this site. It's built on the FireFox platform, so it allows for tabbed browsing and the like, and is secure and stable. But now I'm finding myself with 128937 tabs open in 213 windows.

Home Page: Personalized Google
The personalized google page let's me see my gMail inbox and Google calendar, as well as additional info like the weather, word of the day, and extra crap (no - I do not have the Dilbert comic of the day there, but I do have the daily photo from NASA)

This is supposed to make me more efficient, not less! Every time I open my homepage I immediately feel stressed that there is so much more I need to be looking at, digesting and processing. It's a bad feeling.

[Image]Google crazy: When my new laptop came into the mix a few months ago, I decided I would use web-based applications to track my information. Using a work desktop, a home PC and a home laptop necessitates the ability to access the same information anywhere.

Enter Google and it's array of free services.

As mentioned, I'm using gMail which is incredibly robust. Instead of simply reading my emails I'm flagging, labeling and archiving conversations. I'm also using Google Calendar to track my events, and Google Docs to keep tabs on different lists of crap I'm updating. If you can't tell already, I can be a bit obsessive.

Blogging: Blogger Beta

[Image]I'm using the newer features in Blogger Beta which are great and make this very blog you are reading right now (no, NOW!). It's a great system that I've been able to tweak beyond the templates that they offer, but it's just another elaborate system that I've been using, leaving me overwhelmed.

Photo Storage and Sharing: Flickr[Image]
A good service, made easier when using the Flock browser. Just another large step in a multi-stepped process in having a digital identity. They do create those great slideshows you've seen on my Photos page.

I NEED TO UNPLUG! Or at the very least simplify this situation. So - what to do:
For the time being I'm switching back to the simplified, classic Google homepage.I may (may, mind you) switch back to Safari as my browser. Although it doesn't have as nice an interface when I log into Blogger.
Any suggestions? Add a comment and let me know how else I can sloooooow down without turning off completely.