Sunday, March 10, 2013

Facebook Break Results

My pre-vacation Facebook break was not only helpful, it was most likely the biggest reason that I was actually able to get everything accomplished without losing too much sleep. I will admit that I got back on once or twice because I was scheduling some meetings with people who primarily contact me there, and didn't want to neglect a message. However, as planned, I didn't touch my notifications or news feed. When my vacation started Friday morning, since we ended up having a two-hour snow delay at an airport with free wi-fi, I got back on. A week had passed.

I had 50 notifications, but only 10 or so that were actually directed at me. It took me 30 minutes to reply to comments and catch up. After that, I kind of idly scrolled through my news feed and something strange happened: instead of feeling the rush of a fix, I was bored. It wasn't that I didn't care about my friends anymore, I just became antsy for something else to do. I surfed some news sites and eventually settled in with a new book. Time passed more slowly than it might have while under the internet's spell, but I felt more relaxed, like I was actually on a break rather than procrastinating from doing something else.

I've been in Denmark for a day and a half and checked here and there, on downtime, but it still doesn't pull me in like it use to. Could it be that I've cured myself of something I didn't know I had? (Or more likely, wasn't admitting I had?) My thoughts might change as break continues, but right now I'm hoping that my new productive, Facebook-limited life will continue at home as well.



1 comment:

Becki said...

I have to admit that I'm pretty jealous. Glad you stuck with it and that it paid off.