How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life

Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and News have been blacklisted. The goal of renouncing social media was to add more meaning to life. I wanted to stop unconscious consumption of information and devote more time to real friends. It's fair to say that I've used Facebook and Twiiter five times during this time to cross-post my blog entries. This does not bother me, since these actions increased the impact of what I was doing (if only because the views of my thoughts posted on the blog increased).

Start

In the early days, I began to notice amazing symptoms - in the new open tab of Google Chrome, I was constantly typing facebook.com on the machine. It worried me that I had stopped getting constant entertainment from Twitter.

It got better. From the absence of Twitter began to let go after a few days. But I missed Facebook. I still miss him, because there were constant conversations in him, which are now gone.

Hey, did you see Ryan throwing you in that photo?

The benefits of such fasting were not long in coming. With a clear mind, I was able to start walking, I began to create things again, to make independent decisions. I stopped sucking on the incessant flow of information.

I began to write consciously

I wrote more words in these 30 days than in my entire life. Maybe because this year I finished language courses. I had over 20 entries in my drafts that were in danger of never becoming posts. But with extra time and focus, I finished them.

I sat down and began to think what gives meaning to my life, what really matters. That was not easy. James Altucher talks about the need to jot down ideas every day, which is what I did. By writing down any 30 ideas that constantly pop into your head every day, you will notice how some of them stay with you and begin to take shape. Try it!

I started writing a book

I imitated @tferriss's Tim Ferriss and advertised my new book without writing a word. My concept of Scaling PHP Applications should be a book in the future. I have enough experience to write such a book, but I did not know if it was interesting to anyone else. I made a promo page and waited.

The response was overwhelming - thousands of people signed up for the announcements, and hundreds were so excited that they pre-ordered it and subscribed to the mailing of new chapters before the book was ready as such! I am currently working on the fourth chapter, and the book will be released on July 1 this year.

I began to meditate

My previous morning looked like this: I got up, checked what's new on Facebook, checked what's new on Twitter. Wasted my time.

It's time to change everything. I am lucky that my work allows me to wake up when my body and mind want it. Usually it is 9-10 o'clock in the morning. Because of this, I have no feeling of sleep deprivation. As soon as I wake up, I immediately have breakfast, drink mate tea, and then meditate for 5-10 minutes before I write something in my diary.

Meditation is a complex thing that, in theory, looks nice and simple. But it was difficult for me to learn. But even a short-term cleansing of consciousness and a state of calm helps to open up to a new day.

I began to strengthen friendship

Not knowing what your friends are doing every second is freedom. It's amazing how many things you can discuss when meeting if you don't report every minor action to social media. I strengthened my friendship with old friends and made a couple of new acquaintances, and also started a real relationship.

Would I have new relationships and friends if I stayed on the web of social networks? I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that the secret is just not knowing what is happening before the actual meeting.

I began to compete

For many years he was a big fan of running. I love him. I have lived for jogging (I have been running 5 km every day for the past month). This month I raised the bar and started running 8 km and even won several competitions.

What will happen next?

What are my plans? I go back to social media. Amusing enough to see Ryan taking a picture with me again. But I will no longer dive into the old routine of constant consumption, the new model is much better. I love creating - programming, drawing, writing and all that. I want to keep doing this. Only creation gave meaning to my life.

If I want to read or write a post on social networks, then I will do it meaningfully. For example, I won't read Facebook and Twitter on my phone. And no more Reddit - it turned out that there is ZERO real benefit from it. I love the informational diet that I have been and will be on.