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.