Catching up on media

I got back from a four day trip New York City late last night and currently I’m in the grips of a classic First World problem—getting caught up on all the videos, podcasts, articles, and other media that were published while I was gone. On trips where I’m away from my normal online routine for about a week or longer I usually do not have this problem, as the amount of media published during that long of an absence is so considerably vast that I just give up on trying to consume all of it and I pretend like everything that was published while I was gone never happened. With journeys like the one to New York City where I was away for only a few days, however, the amount of media consumption required to catch up is substantial, but doable, and I feel strangely compelled to put in the effort required to get myself back to being current with the parts of the online world that I partake of. Today I had the advantage of working from home, meaning that I could freely have videos and podcasts playing in the background while I grinded away at my tasks, and as of the time of the publishing of this writing piece I’m nearly caught up. Tomorrow I expect to once again be current with my online world, but today’s experience, like all similar experiences I’ve had in the immediate aftermath of other short-term trips, suggests that I may be placing too high a value on the media take in. Thus I have decided that whenever I take my next short-term trip I’m going to make a conscious effort not to try to consume everything that came out while I was gone. A few high priority items will still get my time and attention, but others will be let go of. This should make for a less stressful aftermath of future journeys.