A Facebook Break

I deactivated my Facebook account. (Meaning it's completely shut down. As in I don't currently exist on FB). It was a rash decision I made 7 days ago for all the obvious reasons: wasting too much time + comparing my life to others and feeling like it came up short. And here how it's gone since then. 

Day 1: I felt good about my decision. No regrets. I read an entire book. A short book but still one book in one afternoon while my children played. Life without Facebook was good. 

Day 2: Starting to regret my decision but not willing to give up that easily. So I just stomp around grumpily instead. (My poor family). Not my best day. 

Day 3: I find myself grabbing my phone randomly throughout the day to scroll through FB only to realize there is no Facebook to scroll through. (Such a bad habit!) I discover a VLOG on YouTube to fill some of that void. (I wish I were kidding. I am not.) 

Day 4: I clean and purge and sort my house like a mad woman. So much stuff to donate! Oh and it's laundry day! A very successful laundry day.  I check Joe's Facebook at the end of the day and find it quite uninteresting. 

Day 5: I attack a few house projects with a vengeance. The laundry room gets sorted and cleaned. The girls' closet gets organized finally. And I hang all of Isaiah's nerf guns (to clear the top of his dresser). It doesn't sound like much but these three things make me so happy. (I'm not sure if it's the lack of FB or the impending arrival of company that is motivating me so much but either way I like this newfound productivity!) 

Day 6: Shopping and crafting fills my time. The latter is a good use of my time (and resources) the former is...not! I better find a job soon if I want to keep up this spending spree. 

So will I stay off Facebook indefinitely? No probably not. But for a little bit longer. It's been good for me. My house. And my kids. I'm less distracted. More able to respond to them and their many needs. I spend more time thinking about my kids and husband - MY LIFE - and less time thinking about others' lives. (As it should be) Unfortunately I use FB for a lot more than just wasting time and looking at pictures. I have my MOPS group, my exercise group, my family group, residency spouse group, book club, and homeschool co-op to name a few. All of which post important information on Facebook and without it I feel a little lost. So far I've been able to depend on others to relay any vital information to me but it's not a good long term solution. Life without Facebook has been good. It still exists even if it isn't documented* for the world to see. I mean I always knew that. But now I've experienced it once again:) 

*Obviously my life is still being documented here. But it's not the same as FB with its instant likes and comments and general feedback from others.