Sometimes I think better away from a computer

This morning, I was feeding Roger and then washing the French press, and thought, “This silence is nice, but it’s been quiet long enough. Maybe I should turn on NPR news.” I lasted about two minutes before realizing the story they were covering didn’t mean anything to me. I turned it back off and kept washing at the sink. During the silent times before and after having the radio on, I was able to figure out some possibilities for streamlining posting to Instagram.

I should learn to enjoy the quiet moments for thinking, especially when I’m away from a laptop or iPhone. I don’t always need to fill them up with podcasts or (especially) news. How many times have I been in mid-thought during the workweek and been frustrated at a spontaneous interruption from someone? Why would I give up the opportunities for those thinking periods at home just for the sake of multitasking?

(I just realized: I think I was more aware of the loud vs. quiet because of this post from Sameer Vasta.)