Social Media Sabbatical - 7 days so far

In an effort to rest, relax, and reframe my thinking, I'm taking an out from social media for the time being.  I'm on day 7 (made it a whole week!), so here's a catch-up log on the first 7 days.  Personally, I really like the direction this is going!

*Note:  Several of these entries were recorded in the car with my kids and husband present.  My hubby, not wanting to miss an opportunity to joke with me, decided to shout out random hashtags.  Soon after, our kids followed suit.  I wish you could hear these recordings.  They're much funnier in audio format!

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 1
So far I'm enjoying the silence in this black out. It's like detox for your brain. At my first sign-off from FB, I experienced a moment of panic realizing that I no longer had access to that outlet and venue. But I reminded myself that most of what is experienced on those sites is, as my husband calls it, "Fakebook" -- not authentic, not genuine, not real.  So, I'm in it for the long haul.  I'm also inspired to experiment with cutting out and cutting back in other areas of my life. I hope to stop speaking in hashtags by day 5 :-) Captain's log, over and out!

{Wish you could hear my husband in the background saying, "Hashtag life detox!" It was hilarious!  All hashtags noted from here out were randomly shouted out by chaplain.}

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 2
Things are still going well, although I did awaken this morning and while coming down the stairs had an early morning impulse to check FB, not necessarily for the purpose of wanting to know what was going on with others but to see if anyone had commented or posted on anything from myself from the day before.  Which I think is indicative of the majority reason that most people use it, very self-focused, me-focused.  So just realizing I was seeing it in myself was eye-opening.  Just had a few impulses to go check on it today and then just reminded myself, "Hey, you don't have that."  It was  almost like a liberating, freeing thing, followed by the realization that I can go do something else that's real life, not virtual, but real.  Honestly the first place it has opened up the ability to give more attention to is my kids. So, that's a good thing! And I'm not talking in hashtags. :-) Social Media Sabbatical day 2, over and out.

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 3
Still surviving, and thriving!  I did not think about getting on social media at all this morning, even left my phone upstairs while I was downstairs having coffee {#freedom} and reading through my quiet time material.  I'm no longer turning on my phone and instinctively looking for that app  {#whereisit?} It's been very freeing.  I have somewhat isolated from what others may be doing. {#wheredideverybodygo}.  My husband is still here!  As a result of that I've been more intentional about direct communication, for more personal contact. {#canyouhearmenow} I think it's working well since we are on the tail end of our time here at this duty station and we are sort of backing out and packing up {#peaceout}.  But I can imagine that it would be hard not to be able to be connected going into a new place, so we'll  have to see what that part of the experiment is like.  I'm doing well, finding other creative outlets like resurrecting my blog, and that's a good thing! Social Media Sabbatical day 3, over and out.

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 4
I'm really not thinking about Facebook or know what's on it, or get on it at all, or see what others are doing.  It has resulted in me being able to be more focused and get more done during my day.  I feel less distracted and more focused. {#ultimateproductivity}.  Still working on my husband's hashtagging!!! {#annoying}. And so I continue on.  Social Media Sabbatical day 4, over and out.

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 5
I found myself wondering how I had time for Facebook, trolling status updates and pictures. {#timedrain}. I'm busy doing a lot of other real life stuff.  I can see where that really used to be a time-sucker for me. {#reallife} My family is still stuck talking in hashtags! {#geterdone} I did miss out on seeing some pictures of an important even that our family was a part of and was honored for.  I realized that that's going to happen from time to time.  I wasn't really sure how to handle that, if I should expect others on FB to download and send me the pics or show me at a later time.  For now, I'm just rolling on.  {#needy} {#dontknow -- that was my son!} {#dontevencare -- now my daughter!}  Next up, getting my family to speak in English! {#ESL} {#USA -- my baby girl AGAIN!} #socialmediasabbatical

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 6
I'm still enjoying the rest and great pause that this break is giving me.  I really have not thought about FB today at all, except for wanting to sell a few items in preparation for our move.  I don't have the outlet of FB to sell them.  But I do have craigslist and that has worked really well.  I don't find myself missing really anything on FB.  It's interesting how it leads you to scale back and instead of having 200+ "friends", there are about 15-20 that I'm really thinking about, really interested in connecting with personally, either phone, text, or in person. Instead of working with that wider net of 200+ "friends".  It's kind of refreshing, not feeling obligated to keep up with everything.  This was something that I noticed during this last season was the expectation people have that you know what they post and to see all their pictures. This is all great, there's nothing wrong with that, but when your sphere of influence has grown to over 200, 300 people it's really hard to do without causing a complete priority shift in all the other things that you're supposed to do during a day.  The more "friends" the more to keep track of, the more info to manage, the more info you're expected to know = MORE TIME! I began listening to a Bible study on DVD called "Becoming A Woman of Simplicity" by Cynthia Heald. It's fitting right in line with scaling back, slowing down, being intentional and being a single-hearted woman for God.  Stay tuned. Social Media Sabbatical day 6, over and out.

Social Media Sabbatical, Day 7
I've made it an entire week!  It's going well.  I'm feeling good on the inside, refreshed - like the detox is working.  I have today begun to wonder what other friends are doing.  Not necessarily in a comparative way but wondering, "How is this family doing? How's their kid?"  I'm also realizing that their hasn't really been any communication from them to me either.  Something things are definitely lost when you step outside that social media circle. There's a lot of information lost, a sense of community that's lost when you step outside that circle.  But there's also a lot of chaos and clutter that's lost.  And so I'm just sort of evaluating, "Is it worth the chaos and clutter to have the other?"  Stay tuned for my heart's answer on that one.  For now, I'm continuing on with week 2 of this sabbatical.  Social Media Sabbatical day 7, over and out.