Monday, August 10, 2009

Morning Routine

How times have changed…

Technology has shaken up plenty of life’s routines, but for many people it has completely altered the once predictable rituals at the start of the day.

This is morning in America in the Internet age. After six to eight hours of network deprivation — also known as sleep — people are increasingly waking up and lunging for cellphones and laptops, sometimes even before swinging their legs to the floor and tending to more biologically urgent activities.

“It used to be you woke up, went to the bathroom, maybe brushed your teeth and picked up the newspaper,” said Naomi S. Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University, who has written about technology’s push into everyday life. “But what we do first now has changed dramatically. I’ll be the first to admit: the first thing I do is check my e-mail.”

Yeah, me too. Plus checking blogs, reading columns, and finding out what’s going on. It’s not much different than when I used to sit at the table in the kitchen hunched over the newspaper, except I don’t get ink on my hands and drip coffee over the sports section.