I didn’t use any social media during the month of October.
The biggest difference is how clear, calm, and focused my mind was. It felt like having a good night’s sleep after staying away for a few days. It’s eye-opening how addictive social media can be, and how much time it can take up.
People fear that they are missing out on “news” if they’re not connected to social media. I found that I just didn’t care. Do you need to know who’s dating who or what someone’s kid looks like everyday?
There were some downsides. The first is some people weren’t able to contact me. I make myself hard to get a hold of on purpose, and some people could only message me through Facebook. Second is, my traffic did die down a little bit without my constant Facebook posts.
What am I going to do heading forward?
- Remove social media apps from my phone. It’s too easy for me to make posts or check social media right now. By removing the apps on my phone, I’ll create some friction.
- Lessen the number of posts I make. Maybe I’ll set some kind of hard limit on posts.
- Automate more. I need to see what programs are good out there to systemize some of my postings. For example if a post was popular a year ago, I’d love to repost it automatically after a certain time.
I suggest you try out the no social media challenge if you haven’t. There’s a war going on right now. Companies are engineering websites and apps to get you addicted. You can either be another mindless sheep, or you can be aware of it and take control.
I’m trying to build a brand so it’s hard for me to give up social media completely. I just have to find ways to use it to get the most benefit, without the drawbacks.
The challenge for December will be to keep a daily journal.
The Benefits of Journaling
I went through my closet the other week and I found an old moleskin journal of mine. It contained my thoughts the months leading up to my move to Asia. I enjoyed reading these and now I want to start journaling again.
Journaling means to take time each day to write down your thoughts. There are no “rules” on what to write. You can write down how you feel, what you did that day, what inspired you, etc.
I find journaling to be therapeutic. I have deep thoughts everyday that I don’t share with anyone else. They’re kept locked in my mind. Some great things happen when I write it down on paper. I understand the thoughts more. My mind becomes more calm. And I feel as if I have someone else that’s listening to me, even though it’s just a piece of paper.
A longer term benefit is to be able to look back on the person you were. We can all see how we change physically by looking through pictures. But being able to look at our journals lets us see how we change mentally.
Interested in journaling? Lets talk about how to start.
What Program to Use
You need to pick a method of journaling. Don’t get caught up in finding the perfect system. Anything will do: a $.99 notebook, an Evernote Journal, or even a simple .txt file on your computer.
Pick a time each day, and decide how long you want to journal for. I do it right before bed and I journal for around 10 minutes.
I’m going to share two of my favorite methods:
The 5 Minute Journal
Do you prefer writing by hand? Check out the 5-minute journal. I was at a Tony Robbins seminar last month and happened to meet one of the co-founders of this company. He was nice enough to send me a few copies to check out.
I like how simple the journal is. There’s around 20+ pages in the beginning that instruction you on how to best use the book. You can tell by some of the questions that the journal was designed to make you happier. It reminds you daily to be grateful, and to look for what amazing things happened each day.
I keep my journal on the bedside table so it’s easy to remind myself to write. I’m all about software because I hate paper clutter. But I find it peaceful to write in this app. There’s a deeper connection to the words when you write by hand, and it helps prevent my handwriting from turning to complete shit.
Interested in a 5-minute journal? Order one now so you can have it in your hand for December.
DayOne Mac App
If you want to use an app, then I recommend DayOne. It’s a simple Mac app that’s also available on iPhone and iPad. If you use the smart phone version, this app makes it easy to share pictures and videos from your daily adventures.
Action Plan
- Decide on a method of journaling
- Set a time each day to journal. I prefer journaling at night.
- Set a reminder. I set the time each day in my Calendar, and my phone reminds me.
- Start writing
Did any of you guys participate in the no social media challenge? Let me know how it was for you.
