This week, thanks to a post on my friend Sarah’s blog, I became fully aware of my digital obsession. I’m a multi-tasker. On second thought, it’s entirely possible I’m a hoarder in the digital space. Pass by my desk at work and you’ll see multiple tabs open on my web browser—on a good day it’s only two (Gmail and Hootsuite), but on a typical day, there are several tabs open. In addition to my email and social sites (where I monitor 2 Twitter accounts and 3 Facebook pages), I’m also listening to something on either Spotify or Pandora while bouncing between articles that I can’t live without reading. And then there’s work—luckily, in my field, a certain degree of online research is perfectly acceptable. Even at home, I’m multi-tasking—as we speak, I have 12 tabs open in my browser. Seriously.

So, what would I do in a non-digital world? Read?

Remember these?

I’m still surprised by how few people read actual books. Since when did a Kindle or a Nook become a replacement for the feel of an actual book in your hand or the sound of a page turning? I can’t be the only person who loved the slightly musty smell of an older book from the library, can I?

Sadly, I have replaced my newspaper obsession with an online one, but this is mostly an economic decision, given the number of newspapers I read on a regular basis.

Need to look up something?

Remember when research involved a trip to the library? And don’t get me started on the Dewey Decimal System and card catalogs.

Happy Birthday to…

A sorority sister mentioned to me that she never receives birthday cards, Christmas cards, or letters anymore, now that everyone and their mother is on Facebook. A sobering thought, considering how we pride ourselves in our ability to communicate anytime and anywhere with anyone. Hell, I couldn’t even find a picture of an actual card. How sad is that?

Fess up, fellow hoarders! How bad is your habit? And what do you miss?