Yes, that's right, I quit facebook!
Last weekend I took stock of the amount of time I spend on that particular social platform and it turned out to be a whole lot more than I feel comfortable with. What generally pulls me in are the autism articles/blogs that are being shared; I feel the need to read them all, just in case I am missing out on something! I also find myself becoming irritated with the mindless drivel that gets shared. Yeah, probably some of that is also me! :)
That irritation was starting to spill over into my day. I mean, really ~ how crazy to let online happenings effect what was going on in the 'real' world. It had become a habit to keep my phone near to me. Any notification that appeared on the screen was glanced at by me, thus disrupting what I was doing. Even going out for supper with the family was turning into an issue. Picture the scenario ~ Nick on his iPad (okay, when needs must and all that). Husband checking his emails and running group chat, first born on Whatsapp, me checking my facebook notifications. It's nuts!
It all became too much, so on the spur of the moment I decided to quit.
This past week without facebook has been fabulous. No more feelings of irritation and angst. No more being bogged down and overloaded. Lots of extra time with my family. I have even started following a TV series... me, watching TV!! I am picking up my book more often than not. I am parking off in my garden and practicing my photography while playing with the dogs.
There is a downside to being off line. I really miss my Bright Side page. I love sharing about my boy and it is the one place where I can connect with other families and hear their stories. Bright Side is a great platform for my family (Hi Mum, *waving*) and friends to also keep up to date on where we are at, should they wish. As for my personal page, I am missing my scrabble games with friends. I am missing the RDI community. I am missing the ease in which it is so convenient to quickly message a friend. I missed my nephew's Birthday. Bad Aunt for relying on facebook to remind me about important dates!
There are advantages to facebook and personally I don't think I will be away for too long. However, the break has made me realise that I need to balance out the time spent on social media. I have removed facebook from my phone and iPad. I will check in no more than
once twice a day from my computer.
In the meantime, before I log back on, I am going to continue with my crazy busy week that is jam packed full of social stuff. See you all on the other side!
Cheers. xx
