Finding a Better Way Down the Electronic Pathway

Clicking on a link from Twitter this morning, I read an article about how distracting email is in the workplace. That got me to thinking so I googled "digital distractions" and found this amusing infographic by David McCandless: 

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-hierarchy-of-digital-distractions/

It's hard to see on my blog but my favorite part of the visualization are the words "partner shuts the lid of laptop on your fingers" encircling the star at the top. Sometimes I want to do the same to myself. One of the more physically painful manifestations of "too much computer" happened last week when my eyes began to sting, burn and water after going live with electronic medical records. Adding six more hours a day looking at the screen was some sort of ocular last straw.

In the risk vs. benefit analysis of computer use, where is the balance? Wednesday night I participated in an #mHealth twitter chat on the topic of "access to medical literature". This was primarily about researching tools and how to find articles but because of the chat, it occurred to me just how often I utilize Twitter to access current medical information. Most of my contacts on Twitter are involved in mobile health or patient care so lots of very relevant information is tweeted and I click on the links. From genomes to medical policy to the latest treatments for atrial fibrillation, it all comes across the feed and when I have a moment I click, read or save and go on with life.

It's still unclear to me how to balance my time, choose wisely with my clicks and still fill my life with all the other important moments. If someone else has found a better way down the electronic pathway, please let me know.