Friday, September 24, 2010

7 Days without Social Media

In today’s fast-paced world, with so many things and people vying for our attention, it is easy to be distracted and lose sight of one’s goals. For awhile now I`ve been feeling sluggish, and that progress on my creative projects has been slow. So last week I took aim at something I knew was consuming more of my time than it should: Social Media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. While they are powerful online tools in promoting myself and my artwork — and a great way to connect and dialogue with other artists around the world — there is also an addictive quality to them.

In an attempt to pull myself out of this sluggishness, to move a couple of my creative projects forward and to squash my own self-pity party, I made a pact with myself. I would go one week without social media.

Did one week without logging in to Facebook or Twitter change anything? Yes, indeed it did. I got back to work.

Struggling with the rewrite of a manuscript for the past few months, in the past seven days I buckled down and resumed my normal routine of writing in the morning before going to work. I’m now about one-third of the way through the rewrite. I also found myself showing up at the easel again, working on two paintings with the ease and agility of a time that seemed so long forgotten. I have spent at least 25 minutes each day at the piano either working on a composition or playing through old favourites.

There was also a trickledown effect in that I reduced the amount of time I watched TV online, and I saw a decline in my consumption of online news. I’ve had more time to cook, more time to spend with the people who matter in my life.

I also accomplished something that I wrote in my last blog as a need to do if I hoped to become “what I might be” … I wrote down my goals, separating them out by discipline — writing, painting, music — and posted them on my fridge. Now I see my goals every time I sit down for a meal.

This past week without social media has reminded me that with a little discipline, I can achieve great things. The challenge going forward is to maintain an equilibrium, and to not lose sight of where I’m looking to go. I'm trying to follow John Robbins’s advice: “Make a statement with your life that’s consistent with your heart, that gives voice to what you really feel is important.”

2 comments:

  1. Love it! I should do this. Resources get gobbled up so quickly. Thanks for sharing.

    Cathy

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  2. Good for you! I was off Facebook/e-mail for a couple of days, and I actually got to finish a book.

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