I’m so glad you asked!

Remember when I told you I was going to be writing for five minutes a day, whether I like it or not? Well, I did that. I wrote for at least five minutes a day, every day, and hated everything I wrote so much that I never published it. I was bored with what came out of my own brain. I started thinking about why that is. I have lots of interesting (to me, so surely to somebody else) avenues of thought to explore. There’s something new just about every day that I think “wow, that would make a great blog post!” Which I promptly forget to write down, or worse, decide nobody really wants to read anyway.

This is no way to blog, y’all. What in the world could be getting in the way of all these captivating thoughts as soon as I went to put them where people could read them? Well, after a few weeks of careful observation (ha!), I have figured it out. You see, every time I’d sit down with these words that I really do think worth writing, instead of clicking on my wordpress dashboard, I was clicking on these little symbols in my bookmark toolbar instead. Social Galactic, Gab, Facebook, then I’d have to check email, read my RSS feed, then loop back to SG and start it all over again. Round and round I would go until I didn’t have any drive left to do what I’d actually set out to do. I would do the writing, but it never grew into something worth sharing.

This is a habit problem. An addiction, even. It’s very entertaining to talk to people, but social media has become my own 21st century version of 1 Timothy 5:13 “being idle and going about from house to house.” I’m just a hop, skip, and a jump from becoming verse 14, “not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to”. In fact, I might already be there. I hope it’s not as bad as it could be, but I can think of some things I probably ought not to have said.

So I’ve decided to knock that right off. 

Now, I can’t exit social media entirely. Where would I find my clients? And how would I promote those blog posts I must certainly be getting around to publishing soon? I do have some messages to spread that social media is fantastic for, and I do have some genuine friendships that I maintain on these sites. But social media needs to get in its box, and only be let out when I need to take it out.

The reasons I’m telling you about it, dear Reader, are fourfold:

I need accountability. I don’t really desire anybody to ask me, “Hey, GAHCindy, have you avoided the socials enough today?” You don’t have to mind me. But knowing that I told somebody, even people who never talk back or check in, will make me deeply ashamed if don’t stick to it. Shame is my friend.

This is a good example for you, my readers, in breaking a bad habit. I know you have some bad habits. Don’t lie. You might even have the same one I do. Let this post provide you some insight into how you can pinpoint where your failures are getting their foothold. Maybe you have a carb addiction to beat. Notice what it is that’s triggering you to procure and eat sweets every time you think today is the day you’re finally going to just eat wholesome, good-for-you meat and low-carb veggies. I noticed what was preventing me from performing my good habits, and I decided to stomp on that thing. You should do this, too!

It fulfills my daily writing obligation. Since this is what is on my mind, this is what you get. Come back tomorrow for something completely different.

So you won’t think I died or something. A sudden disappearance from social media, especially when you have a really nice little community like Social Galactic, can worry people. No worries! I have not been hit by a bus or anything. I’m just not able to do that stuff so much any more.

If you’ve got a bad habit to kill, you can’t just decide not to do it anymore. I’ve tried to simply avoid clicking the things until I have my work done, and it doesn’t work. The ruts in my brain are too deep to just jump out of! So I am taking some steps to prevent falling into the social hole again.

• I have removed all of the bookmarks for social media from my browser. I have to type them in every time I want to go to a social website.
• I also removed the apps from my phone, deleted all of the passwords from the manager so I have to type them in every time. I’m so lazy that that’s a huge hurdle to clear.
• And finally, I am taking a near-complete fast from all social media for at least a month. I’ll probably check in every couple of days just to clear notifications. I’m already enjoying not just picking up the phone to check in on…what have I been checking in on? Nothing that I need to be checking on! Busy-bodying, is what I’ve been doing!

So anyhow, you guys share this around on your own social media so I don’t have to. See you (mostly on SG) after I’ve got my brain rearranged the way I like it!