Day 1 of Moderation

On June 19, 2012 · 2 Comments

Today was the first full day that I went without using social media. Remember how I mentioned I would allow myself one hour every day? I didn’t even use up that credit today- I hopped on for maybe 15 minutes and that was it.

I’m not sure if I can credit my productivity to the lack of social media usage today, but I felt extremely calm and measured in how I approached my work throughout the day-  it’s probably just psychological. I woke up this morning and had my coffee- which is usually when I hop on Facebook and Twitter to grab articles that I plan on reading for the rest of the day. Instead of doing that, I just wrote. I worked on a blog post that I had due and planned out my whole entire day.

The “phantom” effect was extremely strong. I never realized just how attached I was to my iPhone until I had no reason to touch it. I felt myself reaching for it for no reason because I was about to automatically check my social networks. It probably sounds like I’m over exaggerating, but I think we all feel that- it’s the same as not having a wallet when you’re out.

I’m thinking it was just the initial first day without social that was annoying- the information overload is almost addicting and you feel kind of disconnected from on the fly news. But then again, do we really need it? I felt a lot more balanced and relaxed throughout the day without my already crazy attention span getting pulled into a bunch of unnecessary directions.

I think I like this.

 
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  • http://twitter.com/content_muse Anthony Pensabene

    This definitely is interesting.  I get what you’re saying about going for the phone to check social sites.  Sometimes I find myself in front of Twitter on the weekends, and I really can’t remember the mental decisions which led me there… just hardwired habit at this point..

    I am interested in reading your thoughts as more time passes.  Remember, blogs are ‘social media’ too (IMO)!

    • http://www.esvienne.com Selena Narayanasamy

      Blogs are definitely social media! One could even argue that it was one of the first forms of “social” media after BB systems. :)

      I’m trying to figure out if it’s actually the social media habit that is hard to break, or simply the instinctive action (like you mentioned above) to just hop on the phone and look at social networks.

      The urge to stare at people’s updates has lessened over the past day or so. I actually slipped up today (kind of)… I was on social networks 2-3 times today but my total accumulated time was 15-20 minutes. That fit within my hour, but I could just be going through the denial stage :)

      I’m currently working on an update post. Hopefully you’ll join me when I post it!