I am turning off all my personal social networks for the month of October. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, No SnapChat...No anything.
I will still use it as it pertains to my current job at NeuLion and our product offerings. I’m not disconnecting from the web and I’m not moving into a cave, but it’s something I want to try.
Earlier this year I read Cal Newport’s “Deep Work”. The premise of the book is that the power of deep work and concentration is becoming more and more valuable as it becomes more and more rare. It argues that the future economy will reward high levels of expertise and that the only way to strive is to get good enough at tasks that can’t be outsourced or replaced by machines.
One of his recommendations is to quit social media.
He dives deeper into it in this Tedx Talk.
Now I love social media. I believe it’s helped my career and life in numerous ways. But lots of what Newport writes rings true. Social media can feel like a slot machine in your pocket and I’ve certainly felt its addictive properties.
I want to unplug from it for a while to see if it positively impacts my areas of focus and concentration. I also want to see if some of the things I fear - not seeing important news immediately, losing contacts with friends, etc. - are reall or more perception.
I don’t plan on this being a permanent thing. My job has obvious connections to social media, but not nearly as much day-to-day involvement as my last position. I enjoy challenges like this and think I will be able to learn some interesting things about myself and social media itself. I believe this will be a positive and fascinating experience. And the fact that I’ll miss a month of feverish election nonsense is an added benefit.
I actually think I will come away with it with a BETTER understanding of social media and I will certainly write some of my thoughts and insights when I return. In the meantime, feel free to reach out via email (mahodgkin@gmail.com) or call my cell - See you in November!
Mark