I mentioned on Thursday’s post how I am giving up social media for 40 days come February 13th. You probably guessed it- I’m giving up social media for lent.
For those of you who don’t know what lent it, the SparkNotes version is Lent is an observance that many Christian denominations celebrate that lasts about six weeks up until Easter day. The idea is to fast or “give something up” for 40 days as Jesus did while in the desert, to remind ourselves of the sacrifice Jesus did for us, and a time for prayer. You can read the Wikipedia version or Google it if you’re interested in more of the theology behind it, because even after going through CCD and confirmation I’m still not 100% sure of the whole meaning behind it.
Now I grew up Catholic and Lent is kind of a big deal in the Catholic church. Although I wouldn’t consider myself Catholic now, I still appreciate the tradition of Lent. I haven’t really observed it in a few years (I tried last year, but totally failed on day 2), but this year I’m doing it a bit differently.
You see… I’m addicted to social media. I mean, quite literally addicted. I always use the excuse of, “Well, my job is to be on social media! Between blogging and photography, I NEED to be on the internet all the time!” While I do need to maintain some sort of internet presence, I do not have to be on 24/7, responding to each and every tweet, like, share, DM, RT, inbox, poke… you get the idea.
So this year I am giving up social media. Instead of spending all of my time on the internet, I am going to spend my time doing that really matters- working hard, spending more time with my friends and family, organizing my life and business, cleaning, volunteering, and most importantly making more time for God in my life. As Lara and the rest of the Making Things Happen crew would say, Real Life > Facebook.
What does this mean for Show & Tell?
It’s very simple.
1 – No writing/posting/scheduling/working on Sunday. Period. Sunday is a day of rest. It is the Lord’s day. This means writing Snack Time posts on Saturday and scheduling all tweets and Facebook posts via Hootsuite on Saturday.
2 – No logging into Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine, and Instagram. So each time I write and schedule a post, I will be scheduling all everything to be shared via Hootsuite the night before. Only two tweets a day, and one Facebook post a day. This also means blocking Twitter and Facebook, too, because it’s literally that hard for me.
3 – Delete all social media apps on my iPhone. Good-bye Instagram, Vine, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest apps! They are my biggest time suck, as well as the first thing I check every morning when I wake up to my alarm on my iPhone. Which leads me to point four…
4 – iPhone gets turned off at night and is left to charge downstairs. No iPhone in my bedroom, no late night Tumbling, no texts at 3am, just no iPhone period. A normal alarm clock can do the job better than an iPhone.
5 – And finally, no computer after 8pm. That means no writing Show & Tell posts at midnight, no sitting around in social media world. It means spending quality time with my family and friends, going to bed earlier, and going to the pool to swim laps.
This all may seem really simple, but it is going to be really tough for me. And honestly, it makes me feel pathetic. Really, really pathetic. But all social media is just a time suck, it can be such a waste of time. I’m making the decision to prioritize my life for what really matters, not what the internet says should matter. It may seem simple, but like I’ve said… Even baby steps are hard.
Wish me luck/say a prayer/send me good vibes/give me a pat on the back/whatever you believe in. It’s going to be a tough 40 days, but in the end it’s going to be 110% worth it! 🙂
Have you ever fasted?
because YOU ARE important. 