Tool, Toy or Tangent? (and a giveaway!)
Published November 17, 2010
Be sure to read until the end where I’m offering a chance to win my book “The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized” and some yummy flavored hot cocoa to sip and savor while you read. All you have to do to enter is leave a one word comment! How easy is that? 
I have a love/hate relationship with the phenomenon that is Facebook.
What I love?
The way it keeps me connected to my loved ones and friends, allows me to spy on…uh…er… keep up with my kids’ cohorts. I love being able to post a request for people to pray when there has been an accident or tragedy. And I love re-connecting with some people from my past.
What I hate?
The way, if left unchecked and without boundaries in place, that Facebook morphs into a ginormous black hole, sucking time, wasting energy and diverting from the important to the trivial. (Do I really care what someone had for lunch or need to know “who missed me” today?)
So with Facebook, as with many pastimes, people, or possessions in my life, I have to ask myself this:
Is this a tool?
A toy?
Or a tangent?
The Internet in general is a fabulous tool! However, it can be a tool for God and good–organizing meals for a hurting family, taking an online Bible study. Or it can be a tool for evil–twisted-mind people; pornography; hate.
It can also be a toy.
Nothing wrong with toys in our lives! We all need a little frolic and relaxation. So, if you want to harvest your peas, plant your corn and feed your livestock, go right ahead sweetie. If you insist it relaxes you to challenge someone to a mafia war, have a grand time!
Just please don’t ask me to do it. That sort of stuff stresses me right out!
What knocks us off course and crosses the line is when any activity becomes a tangent; a sudden diversion off course that is totally irrelevant to the tasks at hand. (Okay…that wasn’t the textbook definition which all speak of geometry and other math terms. That is a combo of a few online definitions and my own regretful experience!)
Tangents torch our time.
Tangents sap our strength.
Tangents make us ignore people who need our attention.
Tangents assist us in our procrastination.
Rather than tackle the task we should, we spin our wheels on a tangent. We feel we’re being productive, doing something, but in reality, we aren’t accomplishing.
We’re avoiding.
What else can be a tool, a toy or a tangent?
Possessions.
Remember the saying, “What you own can own you?” When you have an over abundance of “stuff”, you must spend time maintaining your stuff, cleaning your stuff, and forking out money and oodles of time fixing your stuff when it breaks.
Stuff can be a time-sucking tangent.
So can people.
So can hobbies.
However, if we prayerfully and carefully, and with all honesty ask ourselves, “Is this a tool, a toy or a tangent?” we can begin to weed out frustration in our schedules. We can free up time (taken from the tangents) for the important missions God has for us; to use our tools to touch others and to live our lives in a meaningful, not frivolous, way.
Oh, and don’t forget to leave at least a little of the “toy” category in the mix.
All work and no play, well it may make Jack a dull boy, but it makes a momma completely blow a gasket sometimes.
No example needed.
Although if you were friends with my kids on Facebook, I’m sure they could give you plenty of colorful instances!
Now, name something you feel can be a tool, a toy or a tangent?
One person will be chosen at random to receive a copy of my book, The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized and a few packets of fancy, flavored hot cocoa mixes. Winner announced Friday.
Tool over tangent blessings,
71 Responses to Tool, Toy or Tangent? (and a giveaway!)
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God has really been dealing with me on this issue in various avenues of my life. It is easy for tools and toys to become tangents for me. I must stay vigilant about guarding against things taking over my life – be it stuff that needs to be organized or disposed of, possessions, requests from others, etc. The list goes on.
I’m counting on God to continue to reveal to me areas that need attention and adjustment. I would hate to miss out on something special God had lined out for me to do because I was on Facebook or doing something He didn’t call me to do, but I answered when someone else called me.
I think a tanget can be these smart cell phones everyone has. Some people are so attentive to their cell phones but not to their families.
Television.
I think reading can be a tool, toy or tangent. Reading can be a tool if you are reading the right books. It can be a toy if you are reading a book for just pleasure as long as it is a wholesome book. It can become a tangent when you are so involved in a book that you ignore your family.
Enjoyed your post today. I know in our house we put off things saying that we are to busy- but we spend a lot of time in front of the tv and computers. God has really been speaking to me about organization-but sometimes I get so frustrated when you cannot get the whole family on board.
thanks for the reminder about what is important….I need to share this reminder with some of my friends that can’t seem to get off of Facebook!
scrapbooking/cardmaking and all the neat stuff you THINK you have to have to make the latest, greatest, cards and pages. It has taken over a whole room.
Cell phones can be a tool, toy or tangent. I do feel more secure having my cell phone with me when I travel and I have had to use it to call my husband or my oldest son when I have had trouble. People play games on them so that is the toy, but it can be a tangent because you can spend your whole day talking and it can be disturbing when you are out in public(like a restaurant) and someone can’t put it down and they talk very loud interrupting your time and conversation with someone.
Focusing on relationships past and present – it can be a tool to help strengthen your relationship with both Christ and those around you. It can be a toy of joy and delight to get together and remember fun times. Unfortunately, it can also be a tangent of pain, discontent, and fear when you grieve and stew over what was and is no more, failing to leave it in the hands of Him who can heal and restore.
Facebook/Computer overall is my tool/tangent. I can so get caught up in it that I forget the laundry and it sits for the week, because I’ve been sucked into the black hole and wasted time…I need to set my own timer for the computer like I do my children!
I would love your book, I’ve borrowed it from the library numerous times to read but want my own copy to refer back to! LOVE IT!!!
We moved into our house at the end of June–there’s still plenty of boxes that need to be unpacked and sorted through. We’ve done a bit of that, had 2 yard sales in October and early November, which helped rid us of stuff, but there’s still so much to be done that it really overwhelms me at times. My husband thinks the only time to do the organizing is on the weekend (because he works until 7pm and dinner isn’t until 8pm since we live an hour away). By the time that is finished we are both tired and want to go to bed with maybe a little relaxing time in too.
Magazines can be a distraction for me (I’m working on cutting my subscriptions down!), and shopping–you know, stopping a a store on the way home from work, instead of doing what needs to be done at home…
Tool….used correctly
I have been dealing with this very thing. I spend way too much time on the computer. I’ve been trying very hard to wean myself off of it. Funny how something so small can consume all of our time.
Computer time…one website leads to another leads to another etc. Before you know it an hour has gone by.
Blogger.
Computer time, for sure, hands down!
My cell phone (texting) and facebook on my phone has become a complete tangent. I find myself doing exactly what irritates me about my kids and their phones, looking at it during a conversation or during dinner–our time. I’m prayerfully seeking God on how I use it and to get it back to the tool status.
For me…TV or the internet.
My tangents are the same as many of those who have already commented.
But Twitter and Facebook are huge tangents for me! They can be wonderful tools, but can seriously lead me to chase a proverbial rabbit all day long!
Blessings,
Dori
The internet… A fabulous tool, sometimes relaxing toy, but dangerous tangent without godly control.
Definately TANGENT!
I believe that the internet can be all three but lately it has become way too much of a tangent for me.
Sometimes it seems my whole life is a tangent!!! I have to constantly ask myself am I aligning my life with my priorities and with God’s directions toward me.
Internet, TV, cell phone and books get me on a regular basis. I’ve been unplugged for a couple of weeks except for reading a couple of blogs here and there and email and it’s been freeing and refreshing.
Blessings!!
TV
It is amazing how quickly a tool or even a toy can become a tangent in our lives. For me, television is the most problematic. It is mostly a toy, but in the evenings when I’m exhausted from a long day of work, it can easily turn into a tangent- taking my time away from household duties and even my time with God.
I agree wholeheartedly with the other posters today – television, hobbies, computers (I only have a basic phone, but I know those with smart phones and I’d like to shuck them in the lake!). But is it possible that work can be a tool, a toy, or a tangent? Work that is done to make the funds needed for the family is a tool. Work that is chosen because it is work that is enjoyable to do can be a toy. But work that overtakes one’s life to the point that it is worshipped and family is ignored is a tangent. I am talking “workaholism” here – not working to make ends meet. The kind of work where people CHOOSE to do it and/or leave home to the detriment of their spouse and children even though their financial needs are met. Thanks for the thoughts, Karen.
My computer! It’s all three – a tool, tangent & toy!
You had me cracking up at your first line…I TOTALLY am there. I am trying to ease off FB and the “toys”…It can suck an hour of my time without me even knowing it…talk about a tangent…I don’t want anything taking time away from the important people in my life, especially, my time with my God..Thank you for your perspective…fresh and to the point as always…
I’m a reader. My middle daughter said to me the other day “step away from the book mom”. Guess my nose was buried
TV – Books – Facebook – Magazines. How it pains me to mention these things so dear to me. God has been convicting me of how much time I waste on these things. What discipline it takes to reign it in when I get started. Like getting sucked into the vortex of a storm! Powerful stuff to think about and how it impacts my family and other relationships. Thanks!
The interenet a tool and tangent for me! Love to do research and browse online. Either way it is a lure away from other things I could be doing.
Internet.
Anything can end up a great tool or a toy or maybe a terrible tangent!
Facebook, Twitter, Smartphones, Computers, TV, Wii, Google reader
I think we just find a balance in the best way to use them for our lives and not let them distract us from our main priority in life – for me that is my Jesus!
Blessings & Giggles
Jeanie
Lots of posts, I share the same thoughts with many of you as tool, toy, or tangent. I agree the cell phone, internet, Ipad, Reading, anything electronic really!. However; for me, I would say I miss my friends. When FB came out it was nice to chat, but now it is the way my friends keep intouch, I miss the phone calls or the stopping by. Call me old fashion and I am the x generation, but I like to spend time with people in person. The Electronic World has been a tool, a toy, and a tangent for me, and I miss the personal touch of personal time with personal people.
Internet, Facebook, definitely a distraction and time waster. I sometimes think “oh I have no time to pray or read my Bible” but really, it all comes down to the choices I make….
iphone
For me, TV and crafts. My craft supplies are bigger than the available time to do them.
cell phones!!!! Great tool, but you can check email, weather, etc etc….
I remember taking note one evening when my family and I were out to eat-over HALF of the people I saw dining were either texting, talking or doing something on their cell phones! My rule is:when we’re eating NO cell phones out.
~Amy
Sleep can be a tangent! I recently started working as charge nurse on third shift, something I haven’t done in years! When I thought I would catch up this past weekend, my husband decided to finish rearranging the bedroom! Seriously, I am terrible about getting organized because I don’t have the space. We have a one bedroom home with only one big closet and few cabinets in the kitchen. I still have unpacked boxes stored in our seldom used living room. (Ten months and counting!) God has been gently urging me to get my home in order, so I could really use a book telling me how! Your blog is a big help! What a wonderful ministry God has blessed you with!
Tv or a good book if I imbibe in those activites and disregard family or work to be done. Escapism…
My friends with their iPhones….they are always checking their emails and not always fully engaged in what is going on around them. Really, their emails can wait and every phone call does not have to be answered!!
I cringe at the moms walking their kids in strollers or at the park or waiting at the bus stop, all yakking on the phone instead of talking to their child, pointing out airplaines, trees, animals, ect.
Sorry, had to vent but all this technology is driving a wedge in relationships, in my humble opinion….
I’m in Karen! Loved today! My novel reading is, I think, tool, toy, and tangent. I do learn about places and historical times and sometimes feel that I feel that I have a deeper understanding of God after reading (tool), it relaxes me as busy mom of 3 boys (toy), and it also sometimes keeps me away from God, work, and my family (tangent). Karen Blum of Nine Mile Falls, Washington
iPhone
A real tangent for me is my email. I just want to check it quick and keep my in box clean, but I always veer off course and end up looking things up online and before I know it, I’lve blown a precious hour!
I agree with a lot of others about cell phones. I don’t have a fansy one that has internet yet but a lot of people do. My family was out to dinner on Saturday night after a stressful day of going through our parents things trying to get the house ready to sell. Anyway I was looking around the table and instead of having conversations it seemed like most of the family was busy looking at their phones. How sad.
The computer and the internet are all three for me. I am taking my doctorate studies online, so research is and writing are done online, but I also find myself wasting time with games on the computer.
For me, a tangent would probably be TV or the internet. I really need to work on not wasting so much of my precious time on these two.
WORK!!!!
A tool in that it helps provide income and a sense of accomplishment. A toy in that if we are in a career of our choice, then we have worked hard to be where we are and should enjoy that. A tangent cause it sucks the life right out of you.
I would have to say my laptop. It is so easy to get carried away and neglect the things I need to get done.
The internet — I go on it to check something and before you know it, there goes an hour of my time!
This spoke to me so much this morning. Thanks for giving us this reminder.
All of was was mentioned before by other readers while starting out good has turned into tangents for me at some point. The computer, TV and reading are areas I struggle with balance since it seems I go off on more tangents than being productive. Being organized and disciplined is such a challenge for me right now.
I love your definition of a tangent. For me, it’s the internet (computer). Once I sit down in front of this laptop, it’s hard for me to get away from it.
Anything that I love to do can be all three (tool, toy, or tangent) such as reading and crafting. It’s hard to strike a balance and say “no more”. I’ve quit the games on facebook to try to regain my life. I also read only a chapter or two from during my lunch time. It isn’t easy; but, it can be doable. I fight with my nature all the time.
Our new cell phones are actually pretty scary. My husband and I got new phones that do almost everything, they are police scanners, a gps, a scale, flashlight and have the ability to connect you to about anything. So, who is connecting to me. For my husband it is a toy/tangent. For me it is another device that i will cautiously use and use about 1 1/100th of its potential, i like simple. Blessings
karen g
You were right on target with this post. Blogging can be all 3 for me. It can be a tool in that I visit blogs I know will challenge my walk with Christ and help me be a better mom, wife & Christian. They can be a toy & tangent in that before I know it an hour has gone by and now I have to rush to get things done.
Amen to this! What a great way to categorize our behaviors. God has actually been putting this on my heart lately and I think He is doing so because the holidays are coming up and I love doing everything but then on January 1st, I say “where did the time go?” I am planning on (but would love your book too!!
) getting things done early this year and enjoying the month of December with my little one and hubby. Here’s to allowing God to speak even when our lives are so loud. Thanks again for your sweet blog!
The internet is all of those things to me! The fact that it is such a great tool allows it to easily become a tangent for me.
I have to agree with a lot of ladies that the internet can be a toy or a tangent. The internet is a tool for me for homeschooling and ministry and many other ways, but it can also divert me from my intended purpose and suck my time away. Thanks for you post. The Lord has been convicting me about time issues recently.
The internet is my tool, toy and big tangent. It can suck all the spare time right out of a day! I love your blog today. It’s a timely reminder!
This is especially timely with the coming holidays! It is amazing how much time gets sucked away once on the internet. It seems this theme has been coming up a lot lately…how we are spending our time…is God trying to teach me something?? Making God my focus and spending more time doing things that glorify Him or help me to grow in Him (the reason I’m on your website right now!)has really helped the quality of my time. Thank you for the reminder!
The internet is valuable for work, recreation and also a time drain. The same for phones and their enhanced power/applications. Will we know how to communicate face to face in 10 years? I know families that text each other from opposite couches in their family room!
The internet is a tool for me. I use it for classes, research information and for connecting with P31 and other devotional sites. I have found that it can be a tangent. Very distracting especially when I should be doing some serious schoolwork. Thanks for highlighting that things can be categorized. I will look at it that way so as to minimize the detractors.
O MY WORD! How I love to be organized but can never seem to figure out how…… I would love a copy of the book!
Good point!
I think that about those things too.
For me, blogging could be my tangent.
I have to be very careful with spending too
much time writing and reading blog posts.
Definitely the internet and tv are huge possible tangents. I also find that time in the car can be like that. I’ve been trying to make that more worthwhile time by listening to Christian music or praying if alone. And spending the time talking with the kids if they are with me. Time is way too precious these days!
Teresa
It’s such a fine line that can easily be crossed between something being a tool and becoming a tangent, too. Thanks for tackling this topic.
I agree with several other commentors here about blogging and articles on the internet. There are so many great faith-based, encouraging articles out there to read, but I can’t read them all (and shouldn’t!). Life would get pushed out of the way if I even tried. So that’s one area I try to balance (and of course don’t do it well sometimes).
The internet, toy, tool and tangent
I completely agree, the internet and Facebook can be a tangent. Mostly I love it as a tool but find it can be a tangent as well!
Oh, how I would love a copy of your book!
Facebook is the biggest black hole of my life. Definitely tangent. We don’t have TV reception, I don’t really dig movies, but I can fritter away a good six hours on Facebook, no problem. It’s a definite issue. One I’ve been struggling with, and working on, hard core, for the past few weeks.
The internet, cell phones and for me, books and magazines. I love to read, but I find I am reading an unimportant novel and it eats away my time. I also read other books that are relevant and informational which can be good. Magazines (especially craft and quilting)tend to stack up but I PLAN on reading all of them, so they become clutter and then an issue for my family. You have given me food for thought again today. Thanks.
I’d love this book – needed more than you know…