10 Things I’ve learned 10 Days into My Social Media Fast
On Dec. 4th, I took my own advice and started a 21-day social media fast. I know the title of this post seems quite lacking, so much so you are probably thinking “What could you possibly have learned in only 10 days of fasting from something so trivial as social media?”
Actually, a lot.
1. So. Much. Free. Time.
I haven’t completed a social media fast since 2018 when my book Detached came out. In the past two years, but especially during quarantine (and those baby nap 1up moments), I’ve been glued to my phone in a way that led to absolute zero in work/home/creative efficiency. I put out a LOT of content, but man did it suck. Why? Because I sacrificed my contemplation time for what I like to call death scrolling, which is defined as “the mindless act of viewing and/or creating content that has little (if any) positive effect on the soul.”
In 10 days, I’ve eliminated that deluge of spiritual digress and rediscovered pockets of silent, uninterrupted moments of deep connection with myself, creation, and God Himself. As a result, I’ve learned to appreciate this newfound free time that I was so quick to sacrifice to my screens.
2. A Return to Blogging
It’s been a LONG time since I have been mentally able to blog. I found the practice to be a waste of time because, as I thought, “Why write blog posts when I could be spending that time writing something lasting, like a book?”
To a certain degree, I still believe this to be true; books are more important to me than blog posts because they will continue on after I die. This blog will last until my annual payment to my server host runs dry, and then it will disappear.
During this time, however, I realized that a blog does, indeed, have value, a value I hope to discover more perfectly as I become more proficient and writing them.
3. First Movie in Months
I love movies almost as much as my wife does. Here’s the rub, our youngest was born in August and since then, my wife and I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and watch them. We’d start one, but inevitably either the newborn or one of her four siblings would need us. Or, if we managed to get the kiddos to bed early, we’d find ourselves asleep 20 minutes into whatever we were trying to watch.
What does that have to do with social media? Everything.
If every free moment of your day is filled with social media, you forget to do the little things that can give you bigger time gaps later in the day. For example, instead of picking up the living room or doing a load of laundry, you find yourself on Twitter ignoring those responsibilities until the final moments of your day, moments in which you should be relaxing. So, you stay up later than you wanted to and you no longer have that hour-long block you thought you were going to have because you now have to do the thing you couldn’t while you were death scrolling earlier.
4. Schedule Redesign
After our first child was born a decade ago, I quickly discovered that any projects I had on the docket after returning from the hospital with the new edition would have to be left on said docket. I would give myself an ample 18 months before I started anything new.
Usually, I’d find a way to work anyway. I’d find time in the peripheries of life: during my lunch break, waking up an hour earlier, staying up an extra hour before going to bed, etc.
Now, with even less free time, the social media fast has taught me that even my periphery time is disappearing. Sleep has become more important now than it was 10 years ago and consequently, so has physical health. That meant that I needed to prioritize my time into a new schedule to ensure that I can still do my creative work while doing *motions with arms* everything else.
5. 1K a Day
One of the priorities that surged above everything that wasn’t my family or my job was the need to write one thousand words every day. Writing is my means of making sense of the world. The more creative the writing session, the more clarity I derive from the act.
Social media created an outlet for me to write creatively across several different platforms, but each required that I sacrifice something to appease their algorithms. The restrictions of character count totals, pictures, videos, etc. made 1k/day solely on their timelines unattainable.
Now that it’s just me, my story, and the word document, 1k is easily attained during my 30 minute lunch break.
And that’s all I need to feel satisfied.
6. Became a Plotter
As a writer of fiction, you’re either a pantster (no planning, just writing the story points as they come- by the seat of your pants) or a plotter (so much planning). I wrote my first novel as a pantser and loved every minute of it (yes, even the edits!) One of the primary reasons I pantsed that novel was because I wanted to have enough mental freedom to build social media content as I wrote it. I succeeded, but the duality of thought that I had to accomplish likely made my novel slightly worse than it could have been (but don’t worry, I caught the pitfalls in the edits and rose them up like Christ on Easter Sunday).
Without social media, I began the process of planning my second novel it act by act. I’m finding that plotting has made me an even more efficient and lucid writer, but alas, it does require more time at the forefront, time I would typically be using to build social media content.
Will I last as a plotter once this 21 day social media is finished? I sure hope so. Will my novels be better for it? Ditto.
7. Hugs
Now that my hands aren’t connected in a closed circle with my phone as the lynchpin, I can open my arms wide to the physical affection of my wife and children. Not that I denied them cuddles while I was on social media, there’s just more opportunities to do so without an otherwise occupied mind.
8. Less Stress
I’m going to be perfectly transparent here: I work a full-time job as a public school teacher and a part-time job as a graphic designer/web developer. Look, I get it, given the requirements of the first job alone I should be questioning my sanity for having taken the other one. The thing is I could use the money and I have a soft spot in my heart for my boss of job #2.
That being said, there’s a need for all of us (whether we’re working or not) to fill our free time with something that will revive us, something that gives us energy. Too many people fill that time with social media and they find that it has the opposite effect that they intended. They set out to “relax” or to be “entertained,” by their screens, but in reality, their minds are working in the same capacity as it would when trying to solve an advanced math problem. The result: higher stress levels.
Now that I’m off social media (and gaming), my mind has the freedom to get lost in thought or, if it wants, to shut down completely for a moment. This makes life less stressful and more enjoyable.
9. Spiritual Insights
When I was a kid, I had a poster of a baby deer hanging in my room. Beside the resting fawn, the following words were written: “God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts.” In 1995, I actually had the ability to lay on my bed and stare at the peaceful scene and contemplate the essence of the words in the actual silence of my heart.
In 2020, I can barely remain strewn across my bed for 30 seconds before I feel the need to check my email and notifications.
For ten days, however, I’ve recalled that poster in more than a few of my quiet moments with God. Sometimes I’m lost in a book I picked up (I haven’t read a real, physical book since June). Other times it’s in an episode of Ninjago I’m watching with all five of my kids laying across me on the couch. Still others, it’s in the middle of the night after a long day with a fussy baby who won’t go to sleep.
10. New Me
I’m really enjoying my time off social media. I’m a better person. I’m a more efficient creator. I’m more attuned to the needs of my family, students, and self.
I’m contemplating a total redesign of my online habits.
Now, all I need to do is will it.
