HN Explorer

Tell HN: the best thing I did this year

9 points by iois93 ↗ HN
I used to be a ROM on HN, but I am very excited about something I did this year and it sure is one of the best decision I have made.

2 months ago, I deleted my facebook account. since then, I feel like I have so much time back and become much more productive. I am not a facebook addict, I used to get on facebook 5-10 times a day and I spend less than 2 mins each time. but mentally I feel so good and much more focused without knowing what my friends have done, bought, eaten, seen.

I can't explain why it helps, but I am recommending it to all people I love, including you.

but I encourage anyone who wants some changes in their lives, try it. Maybe it is just a change of habit that stimulates my positive changes, but who cares. It worked for me.

try deactivate your facebook for a week, and see. Put down your smartphone for a week, use a non-smart phone for a week

do a social media fasting for a week. See what you actually like.

I am not anti innovation, but I think a change in your habit can bring only positive things. I have read more books since then (9 books so far in 2 mos), spend more time to think by cutting the 30 mins with facebook.

11 comments

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mzbridget
I cut way back on FB recently and about to challenge myself to a social media fast. However, Twitter is essential for connecting with other in business. I gain a TON of value from it. From FB? Not so much. Thanks for sharing this. Being off FB for a few days resulted in higher productivity.
davidhansen
How, exactly, does twitter facilitate connecting in business? Unless you're wildly popular, the experience is much like talking to a wall.
paxtonrod
I'm guessing its because he actually uses his twitter account. Shares interesting information and people will follow you. As a CTO I would think you guys might actually look at using it for your business...
mzbridget
I use it to connect - exactly. I've been able to join valuable groups, find competitors, develop partnerships, and follow conferences that I couldn't attend. I get updates about new technologies to use, industry updates. Seems like pastonrod knows what I mean. FB gives me poop diaper updates from friends. Not biz friendly really.
S4M
Good for you! I myself don't have a facebook account and never bothered to create one but still can identify with what you say as I often find myself thinking about stuff that are unrelated to what is important for me at the moment. For example I check my emails to see if a friend answered to the not important mail I sent him earlier, or I want to see the news to see if anything important in the world happened recently. You found there that it is important do get disconnected (and by that I mean totally disconnected, to the point of completely forgetting them) from futile distractions to become more productive.
axitkhurana
I just deactivated my account. I had been thinking about doing this a long time ago. Let's see how it goes.

Another article I just read about focusing and clearing out distractions: http://mnmlist.com/distractions/

iois93
nice article. It is a good read!
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un1xl0ser
I quit FB years ago and never once regretted it. Other communities (HN, although I don't participate much) and real-life encounters can be just as good. I get my community and communication through real-life personal interaction, mailing lists and Jabber.

If you have time to read non-technical (or meta-technical) books, I highly recommend "Understanding Media" by Marshall McLuhan (who coined the term surfing) to get some perspective on electric media. In addition "Alone Together" by Sherry Turkle covers some of the peril of communicating in this fashion.

iois93
I have already put Understanding Media on my reading list, but it is like 80 books away :)
nurik
That fits to the well known quote of Steve Jobs: "It comes from saying no to 1000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."