MSN MESSENGER - ATTENTION DESTROYER?

Finally installed MSN messenger recently, after a friend complaint that it was extremely difficult to chat with me online. Yes, like years after the whole MSN messenger online chatting thingy came into fashion. The problem was, I DIDN'T want to chat online, but I gave in anyway and installed the program.

And kind of regretted it.

It is not that I really dislike chatting online. It is kind of fun in a way, and it is definitely a good way to keep in touch in today's busy society. I did think that I had been missing out on some news from friends back when I had no MSN messenger.

The problem lies here - I am no multi-tasker, not in life, not at work, not on the computer.

I have a fixed routine when I go online normally. Update my personal expenditure log, check email, reply as necessary, check out the blogs that I stalk, check out the few forums that I stalk, post on my own blog if I feel like it. Log off. In that EXACT sequence. Everyday. Short and sweet. It seldom takes me more than an hour, and then I can go on with other parts of my real life.

MSN is destroying that. We are talking about a person who can hardly function with more than two (two!) windows open on the PC. And now, the MSN window will flash every other second, with that irritating alarm (which I have muted by the way), and I have to take my attention from whatever I am doing and go attend to that. In addition, I am rather old fashion in some ways, and I always feel that it is not too nice to let the other person wait too long for my reply, so I make sure I stop whatever I am doing to reply in a timely fashion.

So an article which used to take 5 mins to read, takes 1/2 hr now (no, I'm not joking, it IS that bad). I can hardly attend to whatever I am supposed to be doing because I am always trying to look out for that little orange flash at the bottom of my screen. I am spending more and more time online. And I only have two people on my MSN. I can't imagine what will happen if I added anymore.

Anyway, I have gotten around that for the time being, by appearing offline until I have completed whatever I needed to complete. And then I make myself available if I want to chat. Not always foolproof, but it has helped some.

Ah ah....I see the orange flash again. Time to switch gears....