How I Disconnected From Social Media For A Day – And Survived!

Throughout my life I have been accused of being a workaholic. Lately I have been accused of being a “Twitterholic”. Personally, I just believe I am a passionate perfectionist who takes great pride in producing the best I am capable of in whatever I pursue. Yes, 6 hours of sleep is a long night for me. And 14- to 18-hour work days are more often the rule than the exception lately. But I chalk that up to living life as a full-time freelance graphic and web designer. You do what you have to do to keep the family fed, right? It’s not that I WANT to work all this time. And yet, I do love what I do. So sometimes I guess the lines can get blurred a little.

Most of us know what usually happens when one burns the proverbial candle at both ends. Exhaustion, creative block, burnout – all of these things can creep into the home office and make themselves strangely comfortable. So much so that they can go days and weeks without even being noticed.

But a few days ago I realized that I had not taken a complete day off for over two months. A large project that originally was supposed to take four weeks had stretched out to over twice that, due to client changes and additions. This created a domino effect with my other projects, but it didn’t seem fair to delay other clients in order to please the one. So suddenly I found myself juggling quite a few projects at once and failing to find nearly enough sleep or time away from the computer. Add to the mix the recent building of the bkmacdaddy online social media presence using Twitter, Facebook and other accounts with daily updates and the icing on the cake of the new addition of this blog and the added responsibility of producing regular posts. What was I thinking?!?

I can tell you exactly what I was thinking.

In the social media world, whether it’s blogging, or tweeting, or facebook quizzes, or Flickr photos – whatever piece(s) of online real estate you have staked your claim in – they say you are only as relevant as your last update. The thought of abandoning the never-ending Twitter stream, or failing to let Facebook world know what I’m up to, or missing out on any of the other online ‘events’ for an entire day was devastating. Do you ever find yourself thinking, “But if I don’t post today, what will all my followers/friends/groups do? What if they all leave me?”

Or maybe that’s just me.

Here’s a thought. What if they did leave you? How would your life be different? What would you do with yourself all day? What did you do before Facebook, or Twitter, or LinkedIn, or Flickr, or whatever you have chosen as your social media platform?

Yes, social media has enriched my life. I have met a lot of amazing people. I have learned at a breakneck pace many new skills and discovered countless resources that I otherwise would not have. I have made real – not just online – friends. I truly believe social media is valuable.

But I am married to an amazing woman who is my best friend, my soulmate, the love of my life. There is no one in this world – online or off – that I enjoy spending time with more. I have 3 remarkable children (no really, they are exceptional. I can say that with complete objectivity!) I truly love interacting with them, hearing their stories, sharing in their experiences and being a part of bringing smiles and laughter into their lives. I have a few real life friends that I like to hang out with or talk to on the phone.

So I decided to give it a shot. I declared this past Sunday a full day off. That morning, to the shock of my family and in dramatic fashion, I closed my Tweetdeck. I shut down Facebook. I stood up from the computer and walked away.

And it was in many ways the best day I’ve had in recent memory.

Nothing special. We took the kids to play mini-golf and ride go-carts. We watched a movie together. I read a few pages in a book until I fell asleep on the couch and had a short nap. We went to bed relatively early.

It was divine.

And guess what? The next day when I returned to the computer, Facebook was still there. Twitter was intact. My clients and projects were patiently waiting.

Yes, I lost a few followers. My rank in Twitter Grader went down a couple decimal points. I missed out on which 80s rock band a few of my friends were most like. You know, the really important stuff.

So I think I’m going to try it again next weekend. I think I’ll stop calling it a “workend” and reclaim it as a time away. At least starting with a day a week. Who knows? Maybe even two days in a row are in the future. What a thought!

I hope that you will consider this. If your story is anything at all like mine, why not give it a try? See what happens if you walk away from the online world we have become so attached to. And please come back and share your experience, so anyone else that is having problems prying their fingers from the keyboard can be encouraged to discover that the whole world that sits outside the door is still there. And that the online world will still be there when you come back. You can do it!