Take A Digital Sabbatical From Facebook & Twitter

Do you ever log onto Twitter or Facebook at odd times and still see the same people online? It seems no matter what time I check Twitter, a lot of the same people are saying the same stuff they were saying last time I was logged in. How can users be online 24/7? I usually use Twitter during the morning while preparing for the day and then intermittently through the afternoon if something comes up that I think others will find useful, but I can’t be on it all day and night. There is only so much information that is A. necessary and B. can be stored in our brains, and I feel that Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. are just feeding us way too much random crap and scrambling our brains. Could all this information actually be making it more difficult to get anything of any importance done? Could it be making you sick? I think so. And here is what I recommend:

Take a break.

Even if it’s just one day a week, take some time off from your relationship with the online world. All those same people, Tweets, status updates, and random news stories will still be there in 24 hours. I promise. I do my best to take a digital sabbatical on Saturdays, because your brain needs space to stretch and clear out some space from the constant noise it is being bombarded with. Sure, I may answer an email or two on a Saturday, but I really am trying to stay away from the computer. This past Saturday I never turned my computer on or even entered my home office — it was lovely.

If you are truly interested in simplifying your life, getting rid of all the physical “stuff” only goes so far if you are just filling up your brain with a constant stream of noise and clutter. You need some virtual space too, and I am not talking about the RAM in your computer.

Think you will miss too much by taking a day off? Try it, just once. Do your regular Twitter and Facebook stuff one day and then take the next day off. When you log back in the day after, I can guarantee you that you won’t have missed anything of any importance. In fact, I guarantee the same people will still be there talking about the same topics. After all, if someone is personally calling you with news, just how important or time-sensitive can it possibly be?

Give your brain a break, it will thank you for it later.

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