Originally published on Simply Stewardship, my other blog, on March 25, 2010 at a shockingly early 7 am. This post came up on a Facebook memory the other day as I was thinking about how the internet has moved away from being text-centric to image and video driven.

I have a regular internet connection now which means I have to be more diligent than ever with my time online. The last time I had a good connection (3 years ago), I also had a job, a lot of friends, and blogs weren’t such a big deal to me. Now that I’m at home with a baby, it is so tempting to wander off on a blogging trail and look up an hour later wondering what happened.

This is poor stewardship of many things: time, home, baby, health, budget, and probably more. So I’ve been thinking out a few guidelines that might help me handle this better without just stopping cold turkey.

  • Read the Bible before reading blogs. Don’t go out on the internet unarmed against the temptations and lies of the world.
  • Use a feed reader (like Google Reader) so I don’t go roaming off on the internet without a plan.
  • Prioritize blogs from people I know in real life. Relationships are most important, so set up a separate category for friends and read them first.
  • Recognize when I’ve gotten all the good I’m going to get from a blog and unsubscribe. I’ve noticed that frugal blogs especially recycle the same ideas, so there’s not much return on reading them after a while. I’m not breaking up with the blog and I won’t hurt anyone’s feelings if I don’t keep reading.
  • Feel free to unsubscribe to a blog that posts every day if it is too tempting to read the posts even when I don’t have time. Add a bookmark and go back when you have plenty of time to spending catching up.
  • Don’t click through links on a blog unless I’m are very sure I’m going to make the craft, buy the product, or follow the advice. There’s no point in starting in one blog and then reading six more. Links help Google rank sites, but it doesn’t help me with my priorities.
  • Check my heart before go looking for crafts, products, or services that don’t fit in the budget. It is sinful to stir up discontentment and covetousness.
  • Blogs aren’t primary sources. Don’t reference them for marriage or parenting advice on critical issues unless I know the writer’s views on God, Scripture, and the church.
  • Most importantly, remember that blogs are written by real people. Just like I wouldn’t bump into a stranger on the street and then take her for a model of what is good and holy because I like her purse, exercise discernment when reading blogs. Check everything that is said against Scripture.

What guidelines do you use? How do you keep internet time from bleeding over into the rest of your day?

Let me know what you think!