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We are two working mothers — Lauren Rose, the director of business development for Name Bubbles, and Betsy DeMars, the assistant managing editor at The Saratogian. Try as we may to be really good at both, balancing motherhood and career can get pretty messy. As professionals, work schedules and mommy schedules often collide. So, we plow through, hoping at the end of the day, our kids — Lauren's 5-year-old son and Betsy's 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter — know how much we love them.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Am I too plugged in?

After meeting a new friend and fellow tweeter for coffee this past week and hearing that she and her husband, like me an mine, spend a lot more evenings than we'd like to admit sitting on the couch with laptops, iPads or iPhones in our hands, I had to ask myself the question "Am I too plugged in?"

Is being too "wired" contributing to me being too wired?

As I sit here blogging (um, you know where I'm going with this...), I have to admit that the answer is a resounding Y-E-S. Oh and, well, no.

Let me give you a little back story on how I got this way. For starters, I married my husband Scott. Two decades ago, I didn't even own a TV! It was all about yoga and meditation for me. Sure I worked in media, but I wasn't about to let it control my life. Fast forward to 2005 when I met (again), fell in love with, and married my techno-opposite. My husband's work as a manager of global connectivity solutions means it's his job to stay connected. Add to that the fact that he's an early adopter of Apple and Sony technology, and has purchased within the first week of launch virtually every Apple (iPod, iPhone, iPad...) and Sony gadget known to man, and you know what I'm dealing with. I stopped counting computers when buying one wasn't enough and he decided to build one himself just to house his music collection.

Needless to say, his years of influence rubbed off on me. Not that I was a technology idiot, I just didn't invest the time it takes to stay plugged in. But as the media industry began to change, so did I. Today's technology makes it so darn easy (and fun) to stay connected.

I post, I tweet, I blog.

As a quintessential extrovert, the social media explosion was just what I needed to connect, reconnect, and meet people all over the world who have the same interests I do. It's amazing, really. I use social media in business, network with other professionals and amuse myself with the goings-on of family members, former classmates and coworkers.

So being plugged in has its benefits. I stay close to family and friends, read up on local, national and world happenings as well as garner business info and intelligence I never had access to before. Sure it's a bit of a time suck, but so is watching TV. It's not so bad, right?

Don't answer that.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You aren't asking ME this question, are you? Plugged in is my middle name...but like you, I have found the upside...

October 24, 2010 at 6:01 PM 
Blogger Media Mom Lauren said...

I know you're right there with me! I just read a great quote from a woman named Jennifer Higgins "Balance is overshooting. Manage is more like it". Same with work and family, I think.

October 25, 2010 at 4:24 PM 

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