Fasting is not something I particularly enjoy. When Lent (a period of fasting prior to Easter) began a few weeks ago, I wasn't really sure what to "give up" or fast from and then it hit me- social media.

Again, to reiterate, I don't love giving things up- who does?

Still, I decided to craft a few guidelines that I would explore in the weeks leading up to Easter. They included:

No Facebook browsing
No Twitter browsing
No Instagram browsing
If I had to post something to one of those networks, I would use the share sheet in iOS to do so but not log into the network and putter around.

I'm not the only one either giving up social networks for a period of time or paying attention to what's got my attention. I really like Cal Newport's idea of an Attention Charter. Maybe he's on to something.

So how's it going? I've noticed some really surprising results just a few weeks in:

I have more time. I didn't realize that Facebook and Twitter were taking up so much of my attention and time.
My blog traffic hasn't suffered at all.
While I'm "less social", I also don't feel so pulled in so many different directions. This is nice.

You might try this yourself. Especially if you feel like you have to be checking your social networks all the time...that's a sure sign that you might be giving them more attention than they really deserve.

Will I go back to Facebook (et. All) after Lent? I'm not sure but for now, the extra time it's providing is really fantastic.