Not working on the computer on weekends has so many benefits. The best of which is gaining back all the time I used to spend on it. Now that time is enjoyed with the family and our critters. After all that’s why we have family and critters, so we can play with them.

Prior to declaring computers “off limits” on weekends I had lost myself to working and re-working my web pages. If you have a business, any business, maintaining current web pages is a must. And since I have two businesses I was updating pages all the time. One business is for my goat milk soaps and lotions, and the other is for selling my purebred Nubian goats. I was continuously updating product pages, redesigning product photographs, writing descriptive copy, and updating … updating … updating.

The industry is doing everything in its power to convince you that working on the latest technology with the most current software is the only way to go. I bought into that, too … for years … and years … and years.  The transformation was so transparent that I never realized what had happened. I never realized that I had given myself to the computer and lost myself to myself.

Then there was the craze about search engine optimization better known as SEO. I can not count the number of calls I’d received wanting me to purchase a SEO application or service subscription so I could be on the top 10 pages of each and every search engine on the planet. Forget it. That will never happen. But I bought into that effort for years … and years … and years … . That’s over too.

I don’t want to be a computer specialist. That was never a career goal. I had no choice but to learn how to deal with the computer if I wanted to work on one. Instead, I want the computer to do my work for me. I want to share information with people who want my products or to find people with common interests.

Here’s the rub: I was sucked in because I’m a designer at heart and love the puzzle of designing/developing web pages. But … I’m not a web designer, I’m a soap maker and goat breeder who enjoyed a bit of design. But that rascal web crept in and possessed me; it got into the puzzle-loving parts of my psyche and owned me for way too long.

What woke me up? Sigh … I woke up the day I had to have my computer hard drive cleaned of viruses and completely reinstall every piece of software again … for the second time.  THAT is a pain in the xxx. Enough already. Also, that meant that I had lost all my passwords. Losing them did it for me. I just walked away. And I’m still walking away.

I no longer turn on the computer on weekends but more than that, I pledge to no longer trifle with computer innards. If something goes wrong again — I’m getting an Apple.