1 Week Social Media Fast Results
The results are in. I stayed off Twitter & Facebook for one full week. I allowed myself to check e-mail and Google Reader in the morning and evening and that was it.
Revisiting the reasons:
- I wanted to see if there was a strategy to my tweeting/liking/commenting.
- I felt like I was using it way too much. A balance needed to be found.
- I wanted to rewire my brain to read longer than 140 characters.
- To prove I could.
Day 1:
This was the day of the WWDC Steve Jobs Keynote. Bad day to start. I wanted to share and be shared to about all of the announcements. Takeaway: Social is definitely a major aspect for me when it comes to social media. And it should be. Hint: It’s in the name.
Day 2: So much better today. I worked on other writing for the online writing class I have been taking, and so that creative outlet filled the “need to share” that Social media seems to have been filling. Takeaway: Do the small pieces of content I put out on social media sites drain my creative tank?
Day 3:
Traveled 9 hours by car starting at 5am. Much easier to ignore the urge to tweet. Not sure if it was that it was day 3, or the fact that I had other things to do. Either way, it got easier, not harder. Takeaway: Put yourself in a new situation where you don’t have the same old triggers.
Day 4:
Not as bad. Part of the problem the first day or so was the feeling as if I was missing out on everything in the world. Once I was able to go through my Google Reader feeds at the beginning and end of the day for a few days in a row, I felt much more empowered to make it through the rest of the week. Takeaway: If you set up the right capturing tools, the Internet can wait for you, and you can wait for the Internet.
Day 5:
Another extremely busy day. Having something else to do helps to shift focus away. Takeaway: It helps to remember that actively putting yourself in a position to not even choose the option you are avoiding can help to avoid temptation.
Day 6:
Nothing to report here. I was busy with my mom’s (your mom) wedding. Helps to have other activities planned for the reinforcement of distraction from what I am avoiding.
Day 7:
Travelled another 9 hours in the car. When it came time to approach the Twitter stream, it felt overwhelming. I decided to reply to a message or two, after the 1 week had passed. I can honestly say that I don’t miss staring at a computer screen, regardless of the size.
Overall, this experiment was a success. I enjoyed not having to stay connected, and proving I wasn’t being ruled by instant gratification that the internet can bring. I am more interested now in fully unplugging for the same time period without any digital interface at all. I know I could do it, and would be interested in seeing what my brain feels like after that.
One thing I am going to do from this point forward is to have a weekly Social Media Sabbath. I will stay off Social Media sites, and even try to leave all notifications off, and possibly just forward my cell phone to the home line. I think unplugging even for a smaller duration on a regular basis will help me push forward creatively in ways I have forgotten how.
