Life without Facebook
I do social media. Like … it’s my thing. I love it. I love the technology, love the interaction, love the ease, love the connectedness it brings … love it all.
Facebook is the center of my social media world. While it’s not my favorite (Insta, you will always have my heart…), Facebook consumes so much of my thoughts, time and energy.
So when I made the decision to give something up for Lent, I immediately knew it should be Facebook.
Did I want to give it up? Absolutely not. And I had plenty of excuses not to. (I mean, how would I know what people were saying about the 500 thousandth adorable picture I posted of my kids???)
I felt pressure to pick something else because of lots of silly reasons, but also because Facebook is a huge part of my job.
But because I didn’t want to, I knew I needed to.
So now, after scheduling and preparing ahead of time, here I am, 21 days into my Facebook fast, and I have to admit … it’s been pretty amazing, and even more amazing is I haven’t missed it.
3 quick things I’ve noticed about life without Facebook so far:
I have more time.
I didn’t realize how many and how quickly spare seconds and minutes add up while mindlessly scrolling. For the most part, I’ve spent that time reading or playing with my girls. Or even just sitting patiently (gasp!) at a stoplight.
Every moment isn’t filled. And, believe it or not, that’s okay.
I sleep better.
I hate to admit it, but Facebook was the last thing I checked before bed, and was often one of the first things I checked in the morning. I’m not a great sleeper, but I would ruin what little sleep I would get sometimes by checking my phone in the middle of the night if I woke up.
Can you say obsessed?? (I’m annoyed with myself even admitting that.)
I am (blissfully) ignorant.
Friends keep forgetting I am not on Facebook, and still assume I know what everyone else in the world is doing.
“Can you believe …. ?”
“Isn’t that picture … ?”
“What did you think when you saw … ?”
At least once a day, I’m posed a question rooted in a Facebook post or share, and I shake my head clueless.
In general, I have no idea what’s going on in politics or around the world. (Part of this is because we don’t have cable, so we rarely turn on the TV except to watch a new episode on Netflix of Blacklist.) So I don’t have Facebook, Fox News, or CNN yelling it’s latest issues with the world at me.
Ignorance is truly bliss.
Because life without Facebook sort of rocks right now.
Did you give anything up for Lent? Have you ever given up Facebook?