Are Things Getting to be "Too Much"? How to "Uninstall" but Keep Connected as a Writer.

Today I did something completely radical in today's ever-connected by social media world - I uninstalled all of my personal social media apps, keeping only a few of the critical direct messaging ones with contacts I wanted to keep.

All I kept was the Hootsuite app, which is more for freelance work anyway.

Apps removed from the phone:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

... Actually, that's the only four I had in the first place.

However, these four apps used up an incredible amount of resources - not just time, but also actual space on the phone. Trimming it down to just Hootsuite (and this isn't a product suggestion. You could use others, or just remove social media from your phone period) which only allows me to:

• Interact with the one FaceBook page as the page. No personal timeline.

• Post to Instagram and respond to interactions with my business Instagram

• Post to Twitter and respond to any interactions.

• Very limited access to LinkedIn. No messaging, no timeline. Just make a post and go.

And that's it.

I can make one post, and it posts to all four platforms at the same time, and since I can't dwell on social media on my phone it means I'm more present when I'm in person because I have very little reason to keep looking at my phone. Well, except for emails and actual phone calls... and the messenger app.

But, all of that means I can only respond to personal and direct contact.

I have to say it has done wonders for my focus and peace of mind too. I spend more time reading books again instead of checking FaceBook or Twitter when I'm waiting at a doctor's office, or I'm more involved in getting more active with the FitBit and Peloton apps.

So, to recap, just doing one thing has done the following:

• More time for fitness and health.

• More time for reading and improving my life.

• More present in the present.

• More peace and quiet.

• More space and less battery usage on my phone.

• More focused on professional reasons for social media.

Are you finding yourself in the same boat as me? Maybe it's time to consider unplugging and uninstalling the junk apps as I did.