I never thought I would be where I am today, trying to stop my Facebook obsession/addiction, or whatever you want to call it. The problem is I had NO boundaries on how often I checked for updates my phone or laptop. And let’s just say that double, triple and quadruple checking steals days over time.
Don’t believe me? Let’s do the math. (see photo) And let’s use five minutes on average as our guideline.
1. Five minute x every hour I’m awake = total minutes on Facebook each day.
Can you believe just 5 minutes per hour equals 80 minutes in a day’s time? That’s like watching a movie every single day. Wow! And I’m guessing my checking was more frequent than that.
Prior to this week’s change of heart, I checked Facebook whenever I felt like it. In the line at Walmart, waiting. In the car at street lights, waiting again. During meals, bored or awkward. In bed both at night and in the morning, curious. I checked Facebook in airports and movie theaters and parks, before choir concerts, at graduation parties, and yes, I’ve checked my phone in the bathroom. More than once.
Now to a deeper question: Why did I let Facebook slip into my bed night after night? After all I’m a married woman, shouldn’t my bed be saved for my husband? (well, that’s a whole another rant for another time)
So basically I gave up about 2 hours of my day to read statuses and look at pictures and watch videos. Doesn’t that sound a bit much? It does to me.
Now I know why many businesses have social media sites blocked. But then again, we still have our smart phones, right? So do we check our phones while we are working? My guess is yes.
I’m not saying that social media is all bad and that I hate it, or that I’m done. Truth is I love Facebook too much. Something about the emotional fix stole my heart. I love seeing new pics of people I care about. New baby, new puppy, graduation. I love funny videos. Always a sucker for a clean comedy laugh. I appreciate news updates, especially when your city is on fire. But I have grown tired of those who talk and talk, especially if they post about things I don’t care about. Oh ya, then there’s the guilt part. I feel sad when I realize I missed something important –again — like a birthday or a prayer request or a sudden death in the family. As much as I love people, I just can’t manage to keep in the loop with a thousand plus people. But boy did I try –and fail over and over.
I don’t know about you, but I believe God has other priorities for me during this season of my life. And there is no way I can accomplish them unless I learn to create a firm time limit on Facebook. I don’t know what kind of online rhythm I will end up with, but I’m fighting back to regain my time and start doing the things I love again.
Like blogging.
So I pray words from Psalms 90:12
Teach us (me)to number our days,
that we (I) may gain a heart of wisdom.
(First blog post about Facebook addiction found HERE)
(SPECIAL NOTE: If you are reading this from inside Facebook, please note I am probably NOT there to comment. My blog automatically feeds into Facebook and Twitter. And I’m not changing that because someone on Facebook may need to read this. 🙂 If you would like to talk with me, please comment directly inside my blog. Or feel free to email me at tiffany@teawithtiffany.com Thank YOU!)
