I’m not the kind of person who likes to spend a lot of money. I think about my purchases very carefully and make sure that I’m not just being wasteful. At the same time, I do enjoy having new things. You can only imagine the internal battles I have with myself.
Last night, I bought a new laptop. It’s a 15-inch, and it’s really nice. I haven’t the foggiest idea what all the bells and whistles do, and I imagine it will take me a while to get it all figured out, but it will be a fun process. We got it for a reasonable price—well, as reasonable as laptops get—and my husband feels we got a good deal. So why was I feeling hesitant to buy it?
You see, it’s my second laptop.
Last year, I worked as an acquisitions editor for a small publishing house, and I needed to read several manuscripts a week. I bought a notebook laptop to aid in this purpose, and it was just the right size to take to bed with me and snuggle up and read. But the keyboard is really tiny, and so it’s hard to type on it for long periods of time.
Now I’m a freelancer, and I’m on the computer seemingly all the time. Couple this with the fact that I have a bad back, and something had to give. I can’t sit at my desk all the time, and I can’t type on the tiny keyboard for very long … and my body is really yelling at me right now for all the perceived abuses I have heaped upon it.
When it comes to making sure you have the right tools you need to run your business or to clean your house or to take care of your kids, or whatever your project might be, you need to weigh the options. Sure, you don’t want to spend a whole lot of money, but what will be the rewards? If you buy the piece of junk tool and it breaks, you just have to buy another one, and what kind of savings is that? What are the things you really, really need in order to get your job done? And what kind of investment can you and should you be making for those tools?
I used the laptop last night to work on a client’s project. I was able to sit on my bed and position my body in a way that was easy on my back, and I know I made the right choice. I will also use the notebook laptop when I need something small to tote around with me. I’ll probably still have a twinge of guilt now and then for the money I’ve spent, but it’s an investment. If I can work more comfortably, that means I can work better, longer, with less pain, and that makes me valuable and productive. That’s a really good tradeoff for my money, I’d say.
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Relieving Back Pain with Exercise