2019 Here We Go….

2019, ok here we go…

I’m not going to lie, 2018 nearly kicked my ass. From business to personal relationships, there were many times where I felt like I was in a blender unable to determine which way was up. But 2018 was also a year of accountability for me. Most likely if I’d previously shown up or stayed awake at the wheel, I wouldn’t have been facing some of the hardships I did last year. And it hasn’t come without work, or help or a determined effort to change.

So for me 2018 felt like a year long tough mudder. Even though I had some of the most amazing opportunities and people come into my life, one minute I felt like I was stuck waist deep in quicksand and the next jumping elated through a ring of fire. So as the New Year approached, I felt like I was on a runner’s high. I had made it, I had survived!  There were so many things I wanted to tackle and take on for 2019 and thank goodness I could finally put 2018 behind me.

But as the holidays were underway, with all my family and friends around I started noticing my phone giving me a daily “screen time” update- (probably a function of a new Apple update that had been completed). There it was, a daily reminder of how much of my time, attention and general presence I gave to this little electronic device. And the results made me feel ILL. I’m embarrassed to say the number of hours in a day I would spend on social media, but let’s just say I could probably train for an Iron Man, start a new business or sprinkle all of that time around to do something positive like work with a charity or learn a new skill….

After a few days of my phone sending me a daily reminder of where I was spending a portion of my days, I decided to stop. I didn’t turn it off completely but I stopped the mindless scrolling, checking on what everyone else was doing, trying to think of stories to post or get caught up in online shopping. I put a social media timer on my phone. I gave myself 1 hr a day, that seems like a lot but paled in comparison to the time I had been previously burning.

And so, I parked social media for the first few weeks of January. I read books, I researched topics and ideas I had been wanting to look into for a long time. I set out to work on re-branding my consulting business as well as the blog. Busy, productive without the social media distraction that seemed to be disrupting my world far too often. As it turns out, I’m down on my social media consumption at the moment by 75%!

Does it mean I’m done with Instagram and social media all together? Heck no, but they say it takes a minimum of 21 days to form a new habit so I’m definitely enjoying taking the remainder of January to shift gears, and build the foundation for where I want to go next in 2019. I’ve also found that time blocking has made me far more productive and organized than the general firefighting I was completing in 2018.

So my goals for 2019 both in life and the blog I think could be summed up with Quality over Quantity. I’d like to become more accountable and present in day to day and take the time to complete content I’m proud of instead of feeling the pull to post just to keep up with an algorithm. So thank you everyone and stay tuned!