When I was a kid I spent more time in the woods behind my house then I spent in the house itself. I was a tanned, buff, blond-mopped child of the neighborhood. Imagination and creativity were my primary playthings, and even though I had "store bought" toys I tended to build the things I played with. And it was this constant tinkering with everyday objects, reshaping them into something new in my mind's eye, that eventually led me to believe that given the right parts I could build anything.

At that time in my life, "computers" were a sort of mystical, magical invention that could do anything you told them to do. A magic box that obeyed your every command. An artificial life-form that could transport me to any place and time. I don't know how I got this impression. TV, probably. But it prompted me to try to build my own computer using an old metal tool box (for computers, I surmised, were metal boxes). And, as I did not have a full knowledge of what the innards of a computer might look like, I decided the best course was to put my trusty tape recorder inside, complete with pre-recorded phrases and sound effects.

My "computer" never did much more than beep and tell me that my spaceship was entering an asteroid field, but it sufficed as fuel for many imagined adventures.

If I, erstwhile youth that I was, could have had a glimpse into the future I would have been astounded by what I'd have seen. No longer do I trounce about outdoors. No longer am I buff, tan and blond (which I suspect came from constant sun exposure). Now I am a mid-thirties, overweight, slightly pasty fellow who disdains the heat and humidity of the outdoors. Sad? Yes. But I think my younger self would forgive it were he to see that I now owned not one but SEVERAL miraculous pieces of technology.

All that said, I think I'm developing a love-hate relationship with the damn things.

The aphorism "careful what you wish for" was never as true as it has been for me and my computers. As a kid, bouncing around full of energy and vitality, I couldn't imagine anything better than having a mountain of technology at my disposal. Now I look back at those rather care-free days and wish I'd never heard of a computer. Well, not really. I mean, I LOVE my computers...

They're a tether, though. Even the so-called "mobile technology" is a tether. Now, no matter where I go, I have no excuse. I could be working. I SHOULD be working.

Thanks to my PDA phone I'm not only constantly at the beck and call of clients and co-workers but I'm also hyper-organized, to the point where every scrap of time is allotted for. Thanks to my laptop, a valued treasure in my youth I assure you, I work at times when I might have otherwise been luxuriating and resting.

And the fact is, I'm starting to question whether I'm really getting anything done at all. These machines, meant to make me more efficient, have done so at a price of spreading my attention too thin. Where once I might sit for hours working on a drawing and perfecting every line now I feel that I must Photoshop it to perfection as quickly as possible. Where I once sat happily at my Typestar 110 typewriter, letting my imagination unfold into one story after another, now I sit near Wifi hot spots trying to keep myself from being distracted by news sites long enough to string a sentence together.

I don't regret my technology. I'm far too addicted for that. But I do regret that the magic of it is gone, and that the power to create doesn't come to me as easily as it once did.

I hate, absolutely HATE, to admit this... but I think these studies about "multi-tasking" are right. I think that maybe our new found ability to do a thousand things at once has somehow deadened us to doing even one with any passion or drive.

Maybe it's time to get back to basics?

I'm not ready to toss the ol' laptop, but maybe I should stop using it for 1-million-and-1 tasks at the same time. Maybe I should ditch the uber-scheduling and start having full days where I'm free to do nothing but create and write. Maybe I should ignore that little voice that's constantly telling me "you should be doing something productive" and just start doing something that sparks passion.

That would be nice. Anyone have a clue how to do that?