I've come to realize that I have a pretty bad habit about social media. I'm liable as not to sit on Google Plus, Twitter, reddit, or even identi.ca and look through post after post after post. And while some are seriously edifying, it's a huge time-sink for me, and that time could be better used to create things (like this blog post for instance. Well, maybe not this particular post, but you get the idea.)
So here's what I plan to do for the month of September:
- Track the number of minutes / hours a day I spend on social networking sites. I'm using a tool called Web Timer to track these things. I've used tools that actually limit my browsing to a certain number of minutes per day, and while it's effective, it doesn't block me between machines without some fancy cloud-syncing which doesn't seem to work 100% of the time. So rather than limit myself to 30 minutes a day, I'll be honest with my tracking and post on my site what my tally was. (Each day, every day. This also means my posting activity will go up exponentially, so if you ever needed an excuse to unsubscribe from this blog, you're welcome. ;) ) Hopefully this empty time-calorie counting will help curb my already voracious appetite. We'll see.
- Spend more time reading. I have a backlog of books that will take me the next few years to finish at the rate that I'm reading them. Hopefully this will kick me into overdrive to read them.
- Spend more time creating. I'm not sure what I'll be creating but it'll be nice to find out what is in my head that needs to come out.
This also means that I won't be checking Twitter, Google Plus, or any other social network for more than a few minutes per day. So if you need to get a hold of me your best bet will be via email or some other method.
Much like any diet, I fully expect the world to suddenly explode with cheap and tasty buffets of informational time-sucks and chocolate fountains of social morasses the moment that I try this. There are also some events that I'm going to be promoting as well. But hopefully I'll persevere.
Wish me luck!