My Holiday Tech Break and What I Learned

Over the holidays I unintentionally took a technology and blog break.  While I did not set out to be off-line and my plan was never to decompress and take a step back I was kind of forced to.  However, I learned a bit about myself and my relationship with social media and technology.  While I wouldn’t say there was anything revolutionary or extraordinary it was very awakening to acknowledge and admit my limitations.

what i learned 

My phone is an obsession and distraction

I had great intentions of only checking my phone or posting when I had some down time between family and friend activities.  Ha, that’s funny.  What I discovered was my complete inability to spend only a few minutes on my phone; once I got started on Instagram or writing a post I was unable to stop (and not in a good way).  I felt compelled to finish and I justified ignoring my family by saying “I was in the flow” but in reality I was so concerned about missing something on social media. I was choosing to miss my family moments because I was obsessed with my phone.  

Balance is hard to achieve

My idea was to split my time and balance blogging and family holiday events.

  Nope.  Not happening. 

At the end of the day I was unable to do one well while the other was on my mind. Okay, here’s the deal… when I post a photo to Instagram or publish a blog post I need to promote and engage with it to ensure its success.  But when Declan is around or we are doing family things I have not figured out how to devote the amount of attention needed for my social media and blog to be successful.  And when I am doing family things I do not want to be promoting social media or blog posts.  I just can’t do both very well at the same time.

And this leads me to some praise and shout out to my fellow stay at home mother friends who blog full time.  You are dynamite.  I have yet to figure out how to do both.  Go You.

Choosing family is okay

Given the above problem of my inability to balance I decided to choose family this time.  I spent time sitting on the floor (phone free) playing trucks and Trolls with Declan.  In the evening Brendan and I would watch our favorite Netflix shows (phone/computer free).  Over the three week break I did do some social media work and write a few blog posts but this time I, primarily, chose family.  It felt awkward and I was worried that if I was not consistently on Instagram or spamming your inbox with blog posts I would loose followers.

And you know what??  I did.

But that’s okay.  If I loose followers who are upset I took a break to be with family than those are not the followers I need nor want.  My blog is about my life and if I never take the time to live it I will never have anything to write about.  And if you choose not to follow me through the down times that is okay… I get it.

I missed interacting with all of you

Despite choosing family and being okay and happy with that I did miss you all.  I miss the interaction.  While this sounds crazy as almost all the interactions are through technology I miss seeing and hearing about your lives.  One of the absolute best things about being a blogger and social media influencer is the connections and relationships I form.  As much as I love to share my world with you I love, even more, to hear about your lives.  It is about building a community and despite the need for my break I missed my community- I missed my tribe!

so now what?

Well, acknowledging my limitations and learnings is the first step.  I am still digesting them and figuring out next steps.  But what I can say is the next time Declan has a long break I will enjoy more trucks, trains and airplane play.  I will watch as much Netflix as possible.  Only next time I think I will work on getting blog posts written in advance and images ready for easy posting on social media.  Additionally, I will set realistic expectations between myself and my family.  There is a way to achieve balance and I owe it to myself and my family to find it.  Next time will be different.  

With Love,