10 Things That Have Happened Since Leaving Facebook

Today’s Top 10 is a bit different to normal, I’m not going to be sharing a Top 10 today but I’m going to tell you about the 10 things that I have noticed have happened to me since I left Facebook over a month ago.

1. I’m less bothered about what other people think and more confident in my own opinions.  Before I left Facebook I would always be checking it out to see what my “friends” had posted about all sorts of different subjects, from news items to the latest storyline in a soap, and I would let their opinions sway my own.  Now I don’t have that social media channel and can not check what people think, I’ve found that I’m not bothered about what others think so much and I feel that I am getting more confident in my own beliefs and opinions.  It feels like I am able to develop my own opinions better and not let what others think influence my own thoughts.
2. I’ve started to enjoy doing nothing.  At one point in time, sitting and doing nothing would have bored me to tears and I would soon have been reaching for my phone and skimming through Facebook pointlessly.  Now though, I find it is really nice to sit and not do anything, just take some time out and enjoy the moment for what it is.
3. I’m not checking my phone as often.  While I still have Instagram and WordPress on my phone and check those 3-4 times a day, the majority of my phone checking would be down to Facebook and the ingrained fear of missing out that it cultivated in me.  I thought that this would be a really hard habit to break but, because I know that the app has been deleted and my account shut down, it doesn’t even occur to me to pick up my phone.  It is almost as if the habbit was broken the second I deleted my acount with Facebook.
4. I’m not wasting so much time.  Or maybe I should say that I seem to have gained extra time?  I seem to have more time in the mornings to get myself up and ready for the day, more time to enjoy my lunch, more time to spend with family and friends, more time in general.  It’s crazy how much time I now seem to have and how much of it I wasted by being glued to a site that gave me next to nothing in return.
5. I’m not judging myself so harshly.  I am being kinder to myself.  When I am having a bad day or feel like I have not succeeded at something it used to be so easy to go to Facebook and see all the success stories of friends, whether it be them going out, having fun days, holidays or anything else, these little things would make me feel so much worse and I would judge myself and what I have accomplished or not.  Now I feel that I am being kinder to myself and giving myself the allowances that I need.
6. I’m not comparing myself to others so much.  This sort of ties into the above.  I used to compare myself to everyone – they are prettier than me, have more friends, are having more fun, and in this social media filled age, where everyone seems to share everything except those insecure moments, it was really easy for me to forget that everyone can feel like this and somewhere, someone was probably comparing themselves to me.  But comparing yourself to others is not healthy, especially when you lose sight of how different we all really are.  And now, I’ve stopped comparing and I’m focused more on myself and what I have to offer and I’m a lot happier with myself.
7. I’m not being so easily influenced.  It’s weird how coming off of Facebook has made me realise how much seeing things on there influenced me and my decisions, from what I wear, what I buy, read, eat, use, how I look, it all seemed to have some kind of influence over me.  I feel like I am now becoming myself again, emerging from this social media cloud that I have worn like an armour to “fit in” with the crowd.  I feel like, even though I wasn’t aware of it, that somehow lots of little things influenced me, my style and who I am and that is pretty scary.
8. I’m feeling more relaxed.  I used to feel like I was forever rushing around, not having any time for anything, constantly being connected to everybody, constantly having this role to fulfil and an audience that couldn’t be let down, whether it be from me not sharing something, liking or commenting on someones post or wishing someone a Happy Birthday, there always seemed to be a million things that needed doing.  Since unplugging myself I have felt like the pace of life has slowed and I no longer place this pressure on myself to connect with everyone.  I’m feeling more relaxed and like I can breathe again.
9. I have more time to focus on the things I want to.  It’s weird, whatever I was doing when I had Facebook, like reading or watching tv, there always seemed to be half of my brain occupied with thoughts of what was going on on-line and I never fully focused on what I was doing.  My concentration was not the best, it still isn’t, but I’m not getting interrupted with thoughts of Facebook anymore.  My brain used to use Facebook as a procrastination tool – if I wasn’t enjoying something then I’d have a look on Facebook, wasting time, waiting for inspiration.  Now if I’m not enjoying something I tend to see it through, focusing on the end of the task and then reward myself with a cup of tea.
10. I’m not missing it.  I never, ever, in a million years, thought I would ever say that I am not missing Facebook.  But it’s true, I’m really not.  At one point, when Facebook first started and all you could share were a few sentences about what you were doing, how you were feeling, how your day had been or whatever else you wanted to write, it felt like you were really getting to know your friends and it felt social.  now though, because Facebook introduced sharing links to websites, memes, music, and anything else, you rarely see thoughts from your friends, just long news feeds of memes and other random shared items, it’s not really very “social” anymore.  I think if Facebook was like it was when it first started I would probably miss it, but now, when you see what is on people’s news feed, and that none of it is really adding anything to your life, its not teaching you anything, giving you information, creating conversations, letting you get to know your friends any better, well, I’m not missing it.