AS I LAY TYPING: It’s not easy dealing with the sound and the fury of my digital stream of consciousness. Illustration: Jackie Bischof

The persistent ring of an incoming Skype call nags me awake from a quick nap at my desk. I’ve missed a call from my parents in South Africa who will no doubt phone my mobile in a few minutes to check that I am alive (I barely feel it). I stare blearily at my reflection in a compact mirror. The reddish imprint of my iPod Shuffle distorts my cheek. What time zone am I in? Is it 3 a.m. or 3 p.m.? Why do I have “Faithless” stuck in my head? I swear I was listening to a podcast. Was the podcast about “Faithless”?
I stare at my computer and try to recall what I was working on. Three Skype windows are open: Messages from family members in South Africa, Germany and Switzerland flash with impatience. “Where am I?” they shout. Two Google chat windows and a Facebook pop-up chat show irate friends wondering why I don’t respond to their messages. Six images wait for resizing in Photoshop. Real Player plays a 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. (U.K. time) BBC show, which I listen to online when I wake up in New York. An episode of Gossip Girl is paused in a pop-out player and three articles sit in Word waiting to be imported into a website. An untitled document sits untouched, silently reminding me of an impending deadline. My “R” key barely works, so now I have to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V every time I want to use the letter.

I am scared to open my Firefox window. Saved by a text message! I reply and then turn my attention back to the Web. Seventeen tabs open — Eek!

I cringe as I view each tab: the back end of three websites; my four e-mail accounts (with 25 unread messages); Facebook and MySpace; The New York Times (all that news to read!), NPR and Perez Hilton. One tab confirms my registration for an event, another displays my online banking, one houses my Vimeo video account and another my Flickr stream. The last is blank, “Untitled,” and I can’t remember what I was searching for.

I thought technology was supposed to make life easier.

I have no idea where to begin and so I rest my head on my desk, put in my iPod earphones and sing along to the song streaming itself into my head.

By Jackie Bischof