The first day without Facebook

As well as being a self-admitted coffee addict, I have a terrible, nearly incurable attraction to the social networking gig called Facebook. I waste a great many hours on there doing absolutely nothing. Granted, it does assist me with keeping track of my college and work buddies, but I spend time just staring blankly at the screen and obnoxiously posting on friend's pages. Not at all helpful for my productivity.

This lead me to start contemplating "what could I be doing if I wasn't on Facebook every free moment I have?" I came up with the following: reading more, writing more (writing at all, actually), exercise more (at least move around more), etc. Almost as if I were a smoker who realizes when she doesn't inhale as much, running is easier; a breath of fresh air filled my lungs and the free time that became available gave me a hug. The possibilities seemed endless, or at the very least promising. I then deactivated my account cold turkey and decided that I'd write about the challenges of facing this break-up. It's not easy to give up on something that has been part of your life for hours each day for the past five years.

The goal is 30 days of Facebook-free life. Granted, I don't know what I'll do when I find a good picture of me (as past reactions were "new profile pic!"), and I don't know if I'll actually use the new time given to me for anything appropriate (this is up in the air), but it's a challenge and I'm sure it'll be interesting at the very least.

This is Day 1. I've managed to repress most needs to go to the most visited website on browser, but it hasn't been easy. Safari has placed it at the top of the URL bar because it is sadly my most visited site. I've had to text funny things to friends rather than posting it on their walls. I've had to deal with my mother asking me why I've blocked her, my friend asking why I defriended him, and the disgruntled opinion of a friend who asked "who's going to post texts from last night?"

But, on the bright side, I now relish in the idea that no one knows what I'm doing. Just as I cannot stalk them, they cannot follow me, comment on my thoughts or on other people's thoughts on my wall. This part I could get used to. It's almost like forgetting my cellphone for a day. There's a peace in knowing that no one can contact me.

Take care!