Experimenting with Facebook...or lack thereof

I have been an active user of facebook for...years.  I can't recall about when I started, but since that day, I have progressively spent more time on the website.  A little sad, really.  Let's be real.  My office is a cluttered mess.  I have a ton of papers to grade, essentially ANYTIME class is in session.  I have two kids who would love more time with me - even just for playing an additional board game of Kids Charades (my preschooler) or watching another episode of Clean House (my tween).

It's not like I don't have more productive things I could be doing. 

And yet...still I spent hours on facebook.  Granted, I didn't ignore my children all the time, but I'm sure once in awhile I was guilty of checking my newsfeed instead of spending time with them.  What parent engaged in a social networking site hasn't done that?  And I can definitely tell you that my office has been a cluttered mess for quite some time.

But you know what?

I don't want to be like that.  I don't want to be one of those people who opts to "relax" surfing the web while many things could be accomplished.  If I need to relax, I'm pretty sure there are alternatives.  The bottom line is that I don't want to be so addicted to something that I have to check it multiple times a day.  And with my iPhone, that was all too common - checking on my phone everywhere, checking on my computer at work, checking at home.  It was a little obsessive, really.  Do I really need to know that a friend checked into a club downtown?  Do I want to know that a "friend" got stuck in traffic?  Do I care if someone sent a friend a flower, a cat, a smile, a kiss?  Do I want to help someone mow their lawn?

The answers to those question are the same: NO!

So, I have decided to decrease my time on facebook.  I'm not insane.  I know I can't go "cold turkey" and never log on.  I also know that it may not be permanent.  But it's an effort...an experiment with not being "tied" to a social networking site.  The majority of my time is spent reading walls and commenting on people's statuses.  So, if I close my wall and limit my commenting, then I should be on less, right?

That's the plan. 

Yesterday I shut down the wall.  I put up this image about being on a FB break.  And you know what?

So far, I spent more time grading. That's a plus. I also slept more hours last night than the norm - a definite plus.

And guess what!! I didn't really miss it.  Sure, I am still on it: I sent a few messages, wished a few people Happy Birthday, and updated my class page.

But endless hours on facebook?  That didn't happen.  And let us hope it doesn't happen...ever again.

Here's hoping my "experiement with facebook...or lack thereof" is a success.