11/26/2017
I have been feeling overwhelmed with stuff lately. Not of the physical kind but more the digital kind. Social media to be precise.
I carry my iPhone around everywhere under the pretext of business but since I manage my business pretty well and have my systems in place, I actually don't spend a lot of time on the phone for business related things. What I do waste a lot of time and head-space on is Social Media. Facebook and Instagram being my two digital drugs of choice. And the sheer amount of stuff that I input into my brain via these platforms has left my brain feeling foggy and always overwhelmed and overloaded.
I woke up this morning with a deep need to change the way I am feeling by de-cluttering my personal FB feed. I miss seeing my friends' posts and the things that make me smile and feel inspired because I have "Liked" so many FB business and interest pages (1544 of them in fact) that these are what I see more of. What I want is to see less of what someone is trying to sell me and more of what is going on with my friends because let's face it, if you're not on FB these days, you will miss out on those important milestones and happenings in the lives of those you do like and care about. FB has become THE place to get most of your info most of the time. I don't mind that, being somewhat of an introvert, I actually like it - I get to stay in the loop without having to be on the phone with each individual person as often :). I know, horrible right?! But its the way I am and I've made peace with it.
What I have been tolerating on FB though is the excessive number of posts that have nothing to do with my friends - the other business pages that I have liked on a whim or because I think I need to like a page because it's my friends page but which I actually have zero interest in even though I love my friend and because I met someone at a networking meeting and now feel the need to stay in touch by liking their page so hopefully they will like my page... blah, blah, blah and on go the reasons for hitting the "Like" button when I really don't want to. All this extra "Like" button activity on my part is partly the fear of missing out (FOMO) on something useful that I may pick up from a post and of course all the freebees that come with giving someone my email address (which just added to my email overwhelm). And the funny part is, all those freebees I got by giving my email address through a FB ad or post - I haven't used any of them. I rarely actually read them - I just keep them (digitally) just in case I may be interested in them at a later time.
And I've had enough of this nonsense from myself!
So my Sunday is going to be spent in my PJs separating my business and personal digital life. I am deleting or if I still have an interest in a FB business page, moving it over to this, my, business page. My personal FB account will once again be personal. Sigh! :) I can already feel my head becoming lighter and clearer just with the thought of it. I can taste the mental freedom just around the corner.
By doing this, what I'm really saying no to is me being someone that I am not and thought I needed to be.
What have you been tolerating in your life lately? You too can make the choice to let it/them go. You just have to decide to.