A few weeks ago, as I was beginning to crumble under the weight of the holiday season, I impulsively decided to check out from all social media. No posting, no commenting, no engaging, none of it.

Here were the takeaways:

  1. Time isn’t running out. You can build a business and you can also take breaks. The only clock you’re up against is the one you created in your head. 
  2. Social media compels us to spend money, time, and (most importantly) energy on things that wouldn’t normally matter to us. Taking a break (even a short one) gives you space to recalibrate and get back in touch with your values. As a next step, I’m removing and unfollowing any content that isn’t valuable to me. 
  3. Life is still happening, even when you don’t share it.

It would be easy to end right here, but there are a few more thoughts I want to share with you first.

  1. I missed connecting with people. Commenting, liking, chatting – I missed it all. Connecting with people brings us joy, and social media helps facilitate that, especially for those of us who feel isolated because we work from home. 
  2. When it comes to finding out about what’s happening around town, Facebook is the place to be. Not being on social media made it very difficult to keep up with local events. 
  3. I actually enjoy a lot of the content that shows up in my feeds. I missed seeing it each day. In fact, I want to curate my feed, even more, adding content creators that will inspire or motivate me throughout the new year. 
  4. Sharing is caring and I missed sharing things with you. It feels good to be back. ?