It may come as a shock to you, but this is the first time I've written to this blog for quite some time. I'm not entirely sure why either; since I graduated from University, I've basically been sitting around on the sofa of unemployment, looking under the cushions of the internet to see if there are any jobs there. Surely I'd have been able to take the time out from visiting nonsense websites to write a blog entry or two? Just spared a few minutes of my day formulating ideas and noting what I want to talk about? (Well, perhaps not that, I tend to walk into these things blind and make it up as I go along). But that's not what unemployment is all about!
When I was at school and university, I somehow managed to keep up to date with all of my digital exploits. I'm sure old friends of mine will remember the rapidity of my Bebo blogging. Well, all that changes when you're left with nothing to do. If you're a busy bee, it's probably because you add a lot more things to your plate that don't actually need doing. On the opposite end of the scale, when you have nothing to do you tend to keep it that way. A few weeks ago I stayed up for 24 hours just so I could see what a clock looked like at every time of the day; it's just that damn bad. But how can we counter this? How can we snatch just a snippet of focus from a completely disorganised day? I don't think we can, to be honest.
I obviously blame the internet. There's so much out there! With a few choice buzzwords and a couple of clicks, you could find your way to doing anything. Write a blog? Go for it. Put videos on YouTube? Get stuck in. Learn how to defuse a bomb? Sure, if that's what you want. With such a wealth of information at your fingertips, it's impossible to not find something to do. But it's because there's so much to do that you end up doing nothing. One flashy advert can be the difference between doing what you came to do and doing sod all because something else caught your attention. Last week I went online to discover the name of an actor I'd just seen on TV. Somehow that led me to researching to execution of the Russian royal family two hours later. Don't ask me how I got from A to B, because I have absolutely no idea.
The browsers are to blame! Life would be so much better if you could only ever have one window or tab open at any one time, because then you can't open something that arouses your interest to look at later, you have to focus on what you're doing. I don't know how many of you have ever visited the website TV Tropes, but I ended up wasting more hours than I care to admit on that bastard, with my peak "new window" quota reaching around 20, each with about 5 tabs open. That's a lot of useless information to waste your time with, even when that time would otherwise be spent trying to discover new ways of scratching yourself without having to move from a comfortable position.
If that wasn't bad enough, now that the world and his wife is on Facebook and Twitter, the chances of doing something worthwhile with your day are safely tucked away in the cupboard under the stairs, right next to your first bike and all your Christmas decorations. Why on earth would I want to exert myself mentally and physically and do something that could be really beneficial to me, when I could be reading about what Stephen Fry had for breakfast? Ok, bad example, it's impossible to relate Stephen Fry to anything negative, but my point remains; we've become a culture of inane layabouts who are far too obsessed with the lives of other people. We sit around watching television programs about successful people, then get jealous of them because we wish we were successful ourselves. Then the moment passes, and we all shuffle off to the toilet during the adverts before cracking open another packet of Monster Munch. Britain's Got Talent started again last week. What fun it is to watch people doing whatever they can to live their dreams! Such hilarious exploits! I'm so glad I chose to stay indoors on a Saturday night following a long week of 9-5 grinding, rather than being one of those losers, having fun and doing a job they enjoy! Idiots!
Trying to put sarcasm aside, which is quite difficult for me, I really am concerned with the state of underachievers in this country. Obviously there are people out there who could be fantastic at what they do, they just don't have the drive to do it anymore. We've become so used to laughing at people who try to reach the stars that we're terrified of doing it ourselves, lest we get laughed at as well. I was on an employability training course last week, and I got a real insight into my generation. So many of us, me included, had a dream, a single goal or perfect career that we'd love to get into. But when asked what job we'd go for, we practically said we'd settle for anything. The trainers then gave us a moderately hard kick up the backside and drummed the message into our heads; if there's something you absolutely want to do, no matter what, then just go for it. Try your best to get there and your hard work could very well pay off! And I completely agree, people should do what it is they want to do. Otherwise there's no point being alive at all!
The motivational speaker who came to talk to us last Thursday said "if you always do what you always did, then you'll always get what you always got." I'd offer an explanation as to what on earth that means, but I have to go; there's something good on TV in a minute.
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