3 Great Ways to Take a Social Media Time-Out

 

I listened to an interesting speech by Marko Saric at the Social Media London meetup last night. Marko is a famous blogger (he runs HowToMakeMyBlog.com) and the Social Media Manager for Party Gaming, as well as an avid Metallica fan. Either of those three sides to him would be enough to fill a long speech.

 

Marko had other plans. He didn't talk about the best WordPress plugins, Lars Ulrich's facial hair or how to engage with customers on a Facebook page; he talked about something more personal and relevant to him. Being inspired by a blog post, he has recently undertaken a two week digital black out.

 

He went to a Buddhist retreat in rural England where he wasn't allowed to connect to the Internet in any way, not allowed to use a mobile phone, watch television or even read anything. It was apparently all about meditation and doing lots of thinking I would assume. He has come back a rejuvenated man with a sparkle in his eye and a healthy drink of apple juice in his hand (no ice).

 

Going to a retreat like this for a couple of weeks may seem a bit extreme for most of us. In Marko's case you can see where he is coming from as social media is not only his hobby and passion, it's his work as well. He gave us a few takeways that were food for thought and I thought I would share the three that really struck a chord with me. Here are three of Marko's tips for reducing digital stress:

 

 

First of all he said throw out your TV – it's just a big waste of time. If you think about anyone really successful around you, do they watch much television? Didn't think so. If anything, there are on TV. Second, turn off Twitter, Facebook, email alerts and all other distractions you might have on your laptop screen or iPhone. If you work in an office you might want a quiet space to fully focus on your task at hand. It's way better to single-task and do something properly than to dip in and out of things. 

 

Anyone that does regular blogging will know the power of switching off distractions, whatever they may be. I am in fact I am writing this with Dark Room – a piece of software than blocks out anything else whilst you're creating.

 

 

Stop reading blogs written by gurus, ninjas and evangelists. Same thing goes for listening to podcasts, watching YouTube clips and reading Twitter streams. By spending your time consuming you never get around to creating which is the real ticket to success. Even whilst talking Marko said 'stop listening to me, go out and do something instead'. 

 

Marko has recently downsized his own RSS feeds; fair play as he was subscribing to no less than 200 blogs! I personally subscribe to about 20 RSS feeds and it's hard to keep up, especially with blogs that publish several times per day. Some industry blogs run exactly the same story on the same day and only the wording is slightly different, there is no need to read the same thing three times in a day so downsize it to one blog per topic.

 

 

Just like Marko did for two weeks, we can all take a digital time-out. You don't have to go anywhere, staying at home works as well but requires a tad more discipline as all your temptations are there in from of you. Begin with unplugging your computer for an hour or so. Start small and work your way up to perhaps a whole Sunday or a full weekend per month. 

 

Marko says it recharges your batteries and gets you more focused on what it is you really want to achieve as opposed to getting bogged down with details. I do a day or two completely offline and off any other media every now and then, it does feel great but it's also hard to begin with as the withdrawal symptoms kick in.

 

 

I think these pieces of advice are great and want to thank Marko for his speech and inspiration, I will definitely test his ideas and hope you will as well. Will be reporting back on my progress here on the blog of course.

 

Do you agree with these tips and do you practice them?

 

Read more about Marko in this interview and check out his post Digital Downtime and the Art of Blogging.