Today is August 14th, which means it’s the end of my self-imposed “digital detox.”
I took notes on Evernote during it, which I’ll share, as well as my overall insights & what it’ll mean for me and my approach to/interaction with social media from now on:
Day 1: I felt very detached from everyone the first day, but was certainly more productive. I had to go to CNN.com and BBC.com to know what was going on in the news (Twitter is usually my resource). Massive perk? My phone battery lasted all day.
Day 2: Day 2 was much easier than Day 1. It was easier to not have to twitch any time I picked up my phone. I was very productive again, and I found it easier to concentrate more fully on things. While I missed people, I wasn’t so nervous about being in touch with them.
Day 5: Five days is a lot of time for introspection. However, by Day 5 I felt completely isolated – almost like I’d been abandoned. Except for clients, I was receiving no “friendly” phone calls, no emails, and few texts.
Day 9: By Day 9, I was on a brief vacation for a family reunion. I didn’t miss my phone & social media at all! I was 100% more engaged with people face-to-face than I would’ve been otherwise. Except for joking about social media, I didn’t really miss it, except wondering what a few people were doing.
Day 14 Wrap-Up:
I’m finished with my detox for now. I have a different attitude toward social media now – I realize how much time can be lost in it, especially in constantly waiting for something to happen, and how you can lose the world around you if you’re not careful.
I have a new approach as well: I’m not keeping my social media icons handy on my phone, I’m not checking in every 5 minutes, I’ve narrowed who I follow on Twitter to narrowed lists and I’m going to do the same for Facebook. I have a more healthy respect for my time and what I can accomplish when I’m focused. I care less what people think. I appreciate face-to-face interaction so much more.
Finally, I’m so grateful for these past two weeks.
My feeling on all of this and, as you know, I did a mini “break,” “detox” … whatever you want to call it just before yours.
I agree that we can all put too much focus on checking in and posting status updates and the like, and it’s easy to go overboard.
My main problem with all of it has been an increasing level of frustration about general link-pushing and overall BS that has very little do with anything that I care about.
We are a society, now, that does things differently. We are not a society that writes letters. Phone calls are generally looked on as very intrusive. We are a society that keeps track of its friends and loved ones via text message, Facebook status, and flickr slideshow. It’s part of our digital evolution.
I have several friends with whom social media sites are my primary line of communication (yourself included), so when that avenue is cut off, it’s not just the hiatus-taker who feels isolated.
When I’m with my friends, my focus is on them, not on my smartphone. But I acknowledge that this channels are just how we communicate with one another now. It’s just life. I’m OK with that.
An interesting read Tara and Melissa. I’ve been toying with the thought of attempting a digital detox of recent times. In part because of the pressure from other non digiphobes who question/politely attack my use of social, and in part to prove that I am in control of me. Then I reflect on the depth and genuiness (is that a word Miss Buzz?) of the connections I believe I have with some great mates spanning cities, countries and cultures that the doubting Thomas’s will never begin to appreciate or experience. That makes me sad for them. So for the time being I’m fully wired in. ‘Beam me up Scotty!’ Nerds Unite!