Oh, hey Tuesday! | I Stepped Away from Social Media (well, kind of)
I tell you guys what - I made a commitment to stick to blogging this year. And while I have missed my commitments a few times (okay I think I went a couple months - my bad), I have been pretty diligent. But the more we get into the year the harder it gets! A lot in part because I switched my office to being a stationary operation vs a laptop so I could move closer towards a work/life balance. It just creates extra frustration at times - lol.
But that’s not why you’re here! You’re probably wondering what the heck happened to me - Amber - Facebook extraordinaire, sharer of all things only I care about, phone constantly in her face-er - has pseudo stepped away from social media? Yes, yes folks. It’s true.
I am going through a pretty massive transition in my life right now where I am working through a lot of things and finding alignment not only in work and life but with myself (more on that in November!), and in doing so I kind of had a bit of a complete mental breakdown a few weeks ago. During that mental breakdown, I happened to log in to Facebook and start my usual scrolling when I found myself completely scrolling past the first 15-20 items because they were things I literally had no interest in seeing, they made me sad or angry, or I just generally didn't want to see it. It was in that moment when I said “see ya Facebook, I’m taking 5.” Doing it felt kind of weird at first. OK, a lot weird. I found that my subconscious would be drawn toward picking up my phone to get on Facebook and I would have to make myself put the phone down. I finally moved the app so I had to open several screens to get it open, which has been a tremendous help.
I made this decision about three weeks ago, and I find that I am not really missing anything. I am posting more on Instagram, which tends to be more my jam anyway (less garbage, more things I want to see). I am also still posting on my business page (which has also been quiet this month because I’ve kind of taken the month of August off). I am also at a point now where maybe once per day I will hop on Facebook and check my notifications to see if I need to see anything, and I will scroll through the first 5-ish posts. My not being on Facebook so much now has led to the part of the feed I look at to be more enjoyable and less drama and junk which I find interesting… and it makes me more now than ever want to understand their algorithms (haha). But I digress.
This adjustment has given me more time with my family. I now spend every night for at least an hour with my boys playing Pokemon Go, which has been an incredible blast. I haven’t allowed myself this much time to spend with them in I don’t know how long. I’ve also noticed it has made a lot of positive changes in my life, such as:
1) My son’s behavior. While he is still a 6 year old boy with a flair for dramatics and anger (aren’t we all, though?), he has been WAY better. I think he was fighting for our attention to a degree I didn’t even understand until I took off my metaphorical digital lenses to see.
2) My husband and I (I feel personally) are communicating more and better.
3) I’m sleeping better.
4) I have more of this elusive thing called “time” that I always wondered where it went.
Overall, it’s been a great change. And honestly I will probably stick to it. Facebook has been a part of my life since 2004, so it’s weird that I’m not on it NEARLY as much. But once I realized I’m not missing anything… the bad case of FOMO I was having was quickly treated, never to be seen again.
So, if you’ve been looking for me, just shoot me a text. I’m here - but just in the real sense, not through the typed letters of a status. ;)
Until next time,
Amber