Last month, I made a decision to be on Facebook less. I found that I was tired of reading the same post 25 times from 15 different people, falling into the vacuum of mindless quizzes and videos and pointless discussions on politics and religion. I realized that Facebook was NOT keeping me up to date with what my friends were doing and I was wasting way too much time engrossed in posts that did not ultimately add any sort of value to my life.
Part of why I would spend so much time on Facebook was purely procrastination (I didn't become The Productivity Expert because I was always good at time management, rather because I've struggled most of my life with the exact same issues I help my clients overcome). And part of the reason was FOMO - Fear of missing out. What was I missing by not seeing what everyone else was up to?
It didn't make it any easier when someone would come up to me and say, "Did you see what I posted on Facebook?" They knew that, in the past, I'd almost always answer yes! I rarely missed anything. And now, I had to say no and feel those pangs of, "What did I miss???"
An amazing tech expert colleague of mine and generally productive person, Brandy Lawson, introduced me to News Feed Eradicator. News Feed Eradictor (and others out there) are plugins for your browser that allow you to visit Facebook and see everything BUT the newsfeed. This way, I could still do business on Facebook but not end up in the endless hole that was the newsfeed. In the past, I've always used the excuse that I had to be on Facebook to build my business. Unfortunately, spending two or three hours a day scrolling through the newsfeed was NOT getting me any clients!
Now mind you, I didn't go totally cold turkey. I still have Facebook on my phone that I could check in after work hours when I was using my downtime instead of my productive time. I could still see the messages and notices that would come in if I needed to. What I wasn't doing, was getting sucked into the pointless conversations and endlessly unnecessary and unproductive posts that I previously allowed myself to fall victim to.
And you know what? I don't miss it.
It's been almost a month since I made the change. Today, I'm feeling a bit under the weather so I'm on the couch and thought I'd check out what I've been missing.
Not a whole heck of a lot.
Now that I look at the news feed with a fresh set of eyes, it isn't about hunting for that one post that I can comment and add value to. It isn't about encouraging my friends when they share their thoughts and ideas. Those posts seem to be few and far between.
Some people have chosen to eliminate watching the news because they find it does nothing but put them in a negative state of mind. I'm beginning to see that is the case with me and Facebook. While there are the occasional memes of inspiration and the posts I'd really like to see because my friends are doing amazing things, its just not worth the stuff I have to wade through to find those.
I'm grateful for the new relationship I have with Facebook. It no longer controls me. Instead, it works for me in ways that honor and serve the life I want to live. But even making that statement gives far too much power to Facebook, because, in the end, Facebook did nothing wrong. I chose how I wanted that relationship to look. And now I choose something different.
Confession time! Are you addicted to social media?
Nicole Bandes
With over 25 years of research into productivity and time management and over 20 years of business and entrepreneurial experience, Nicole has discovered the secret to why most productivity programs fail and what keeps us stuck in the same bad time management habits.
Having successfully helped hundreds of business leaders stop feeling overwhelmed and out of control so that they have time to achieve that "one more thing" that will make all the difference, Nicole's clients often tell her that she has the magical ability to create time where it didn't exist before.
Latest posts by Nicole Bandes (see all)
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