Liberty through Limitations :: why I’m limiting my facebook time

How to find liberty through limiting yourself. It really is possible!

When I posted my goals for January, I got several comments and questions about my facebook goal. The funny thing is – nobody asked my why I was limiting my facebook time to 15 minutes a day. They just asked me how.

For the past few months, I’ve wanted to ‘cut back’ on my facebook time. There were so many times when I would sit down at the computer to respond to something “real quick” – and before I knew it 30 minutes had passed and I was looking at some random person’s Christmas picture album from 2011. It was annoying. And frustrating. But obviously, it was all my fault. And facebook’s fault, of course, for reeling me in like that. Ok, maybe not.

Anyway, I knew I didn’t want to deactivate my account. There are a lot of groups I’m part of, it’s such an easy way to communicate with people, and I didn’t want to give up my Brown Sugar Toast page. But, I did want to stop wasting time. Thus, the goal to spend a max of 15 minutes/day on facebook. Here are 3 things I’ve done to spend less time on facebook:

I started out by getting rid of the app on my phone.
At the beginning of each day, I set a timer for 15 minutes. Whenever I popped on facebook, I would start the timer. Then I paused it whenever I logged off. I couldn’t believe how fast time flew when I was on there. Just bein’ real with ya.
I’ve also been closing my facebook window instead of just switching to another tab. That way, I’m not constantly going over to facebook when I have a new notification.

After a few days, I seriously couldn’t believe how liberating it was to spend so little time on facebook! And it just seemed odd to me – that I was finding liberty through limitations. Here are a couple things that stood out to me:

  • I made the goal. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have felt any liberty if Jonathan had told me to cut back my facebook time. Nope. I’d just be annoyed. I’m not condoning that attitude; just telling you what it most likely would have been.
  • I’m being more productive. Because I was guarding my time from being wasted on facebook, I was guarding it from other time-wasters as well. Watch that show while freezer cooking? Weeell, I knew I’d probably end up doing more watching than cooking. So I listened to an audiobook instead.
  • My thoughts have changed. When I spend a lot of time during the day checking on what other people are doing/thinking, a couple things happen.
    First, I compare my life with theirs. I know that’s not right. Good grief, I even wrote a post about it. But let’s face it: I’m not perfect. Clearly.
    Second, I’m actually doing things instead of reading about other people doing things. I mean…I don’t think I have to explain this one.

Having said all that, I’m glad I made the goal. And I’m definitely plugging it in as a goal for February.

Also?
I find I’m spending a leetle bit more time on instagram these days. I mean…yeah. A girl’s gotta waste time somehow, right?

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p.s. I don’t really think people have to waste time. I was just … making an excuse. Or something. Anyway…yeah. Say hi to me on facebook. But don’t get mad if I don’t reply. Because 15 minutes only lasts for, well, 15 minutes.

p.p.s. don’t forget to enter the giveaway for the book, Say Goodbye to Survival ModeThere will be THREE winners, so your chances are pretty high!


Comments

6 responses to “Liberty through Limitations :: why I’m limiting my facebook time”

  1. Wow, thank you for these ideas!! I think I’ll be using the timer idea. 🙂

  2. I agree, christa! I am back after one month off of ALL social media and you know what I missed in a month? Nothing. Good job!

  3. Sure thing, Laura! Even if you start out just timing how long you spend…it will probably be pretty eye-opening. It was for me!

  4. It’s pretty amazing to set social media goals & then hit them, isn’t it? 🙂 Good for you!!

  5. Love this! I deleted the app off my phone back last summer and LOVED the liberation! I put the app back on when Ava was born because it helped make it through late night feedings. I just deleted the app again a couple weeks ago. I don’t monitor my time on fb, but I do have boundaries where I’m usually only on when the kids are asleep or otherwise occupied.

    Thanks for sharing!

  6. Oh, I hear ya with the late night feedings!! 😀