Lately I’ve been noticing a few things. How much less I get accomplished in one day compared to what I used to get done. And while some of that can be explained by aging and a few injuries, the majority of it seems to be that time just disappears. One minute it’s 7:30 a.m. and the next it’s pushing 10 a.m.! How does this happen?
So, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to those “little things” meant to enhance our quality of life that actually suck the time right out of the day and I’ve found my biggest time leak. Social Media (a.k.a. Twitter and Facebook). Yep those supposedly wonderful sites that are supposed to help up connect with people and be more aware of what is going on in the world around us.
Now I’ll agree, social media can be a catalyst for change worldwide, but in my own little world, I find the main thing it’s changing is my perception of time and the ability to actually live my life to the fullest moment to moment. To that end, I have decided to delete my Twitter account. Seriously, it seems to be a site for people to throw things out into the world with no communication between people value at all. You may like Twitter, I find it to be a big waste of time. If I say something, I enjoy the back and forth of conversation. If I just want to hear myself talk, I’ll talk to the dogs thank you very much.
And, in the interest of recapturing they style of life I had when I was most productive and enjoying the days most, I’ll be making some changes to my Facebook account. There are only about two dozen people I actually interact with on Facebook. The rest appear to be lurkers or advertisers only. And while there are PAGES I enjoy looking at, it’s personal COMMUNICATION I’m interested in.
So, what does this all mean in the long run? Well, I recommend you subscribe to this blog if you want to see what I’m up to on a daily basis. And don’t be offended when I start trimming that 900 and some odd “friends” list down to those few people who truly are either friends or family.
You may be asking “why blog” if I’m looking to decrease my electronic time? Well, I find blogging, when done regularly, to be much less time invasive than Facebook. And while I don’t receive, nor expect, the volume of comments that I can get on Facebook, a blog is my own journal of my life on a daily basis. The part of it I’m willing to share that is. The part I’m not willing to share, well that’s written somewhere else, never to be seen in the light of day until some year, way into the future, after my earthly demise. WAY, WAY, WAY into the future. LOL I’ve got a lot I want to do, which is the whole point of locating the Electronic Time Eaters in my life and reducing or elminating them..
I gave up logging into Facebook every day a month ago. I have not missed it at all.
The blog is a journal – we refer back to ours to answer all kinds of questions – Is it time to put the hummingbird feeders out – when did they show up last year? How long ago did we fix up that landscaping issue? Maybe we started the blog for family to watch our house being built, but now, it’s just for us. And labels are letting me print the book that goes with the Block of the Week quilts for the recipient. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your new conversations with the dogs!
Wow. I totally understand and commend you for putting you first.. Sometimes I go for 4, 5, 7 days with checking Facebook. I thought that was weird until I checked myself and thought no, girl …not being caught up IS normal. So I’m ok with the decrease in my interaction on social media. Good for you too.
I agree with you on twitter…. and when everyone starts trying to have a conversation and the hashtags…. I’m lost….. I think I check it every couple of days or so…..