When I was a teenager, my parents put me on restriction for one of two reasons:
- I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to do.
- Where I wanted to go, they didn’t want me to go, and the only way to protect me was to ground me.
When I was on restriction, it meant no TV, no computer, no friends over, no going to friends’ houses, and sometimes, if I had REALLY disobeyed, NO READING. (I only remember that once. It was the pits.)
Well, I’m officially putting myself on social media restriction.
Here’s the thing- I haven’t been able to tell you tons about it yet, but I’m currently writing my next book. (SQUEAL! HAPPY! YAY!) and the deadline cometh.
I’ve noticed throughout June and July that I spend a lot lot lot lot of time on social media during writing hours. Like, an embarrassing amount. When I can’t come up with the right word or sentence, instead of sitting and thinking, I check Facebook. And the next thing you know it’s an hour later and I’m in the bowels of BuzzFeed.
So that’s restriction reason #1. I’m doing something I’m not supposed to do- wasting my writing time playing on social media.
But there’s restriction reason #2 at play here too.
I see myself loving social media too much. Calling it an addiction may be too strong of a word, but ever since I wrote this post for (in)courage a few weeks ago I’ve been thinking about it. Why have I quit reading? Why do I keep my nose in my phone? What has happened to me? I don’t like where I’m going or who I’m becoming when it comes to time given to social media. So I’m putting myself on restriction.
I’m not burnt out or too tired or needing a break or anything like that. To be honest, I wish I could say that because I feel like when writers say things like, “I’m drawing boundaries to breathe deeper” and fancy language like that, it makes them sound really mature and balanced.
But the truth is, I’m spending too much time on social media and it’s hurting my work and maybe my soul. (Not so mature sounding, unfortunately.)
So for the month of August, I’m stepping away from the internet (except email- so if you need me, you can still get me.) And we are still booking speaking events for 2016, so you can email us about that too.
You will see a few posts happen this month here on the blog and on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, but those are prescheduled or posted by someone on my team because we do have some awesome stuff happening this month that I want to share.
If you happen to think of it, your prayers as I write this month would be greatly appreciated. The goal is to write approximately 1500 words a day, the book is about beauty and perseverance, and I want it to be the best book I’ve ever written.
Hugs to y’all. See you August 31st!
Sincerely,
