Fe, fi, fo, fum I declare a social media moratorium.

hi, 
I'm tab and I've been feeling the pull to scroll a little too strong and I am getting fed up with myself about it. So Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum...I declare a social media moratorium. 

We are a low-tech family in general. We have two tvs, and honestly I don't watch much tv or streaming because 6 kids....but I do occasionally squeeze in a show or movie if I need some self-care mindless time. 

I have a laptop where I blog, homeschool prek lesson plan, work on our family yearbook, or email. But I also...six kids - so if you've never tried to sit down and work on a computer while you have children, especially with two kids under two - let me inform you, ya get like a 15 minute window unless they are asleep. And we don't have any other devices (tablets, kindles, smart watches, other things that I don't even know exist - hah).

So that leaves my phone. I don't know where I fall in the average, but my screen time for my phone is around 6 hours a day (that includes any apps, texting, phone calls, taking photos, social media, etc)

Here's yesterday's well-being dashboard: 

Taking a look at that - Walmart was for my pick up grocery order while I roamed around the house checking the pantry, fridge, and freezer. Messages & WhatsApp is communication with my family/ friends/kids' friends parents/kids' teams or coaches. Youtube was watching (and rewatching/rewinding) a really cool video with Rusty about building a fort and then we went outside and built a fort in the woods together! 

So, some of my social media is actually useful, life for real for real - not just me trying to justify my time spent on it. I use Pinterest exclusively for recipes almost daily and I use Youtube for work out videos or tutorials. I write on this blog and follow a few other blogs of people that inspire me and encourage me to keep marching forward in motherhood. Thankfully, I don't have other social media to distract me like twitter, tik tok, or (much to my sisters' disappointment) snapchat.

So that leaves Instagram and Facebook...which both platforms have now become almost entirely time sucks for me. It's just become a sequence of scroll, laugh, scroll, eye roll, scroll, scroll, scroll. Which then just equates to the passage of time. 

Passage of MY time
in this one precious life.
in this one beautiful,
chaotic,
incredibly glorious moment of our life
with six kids under one roof
with our able bodies
and minds
and all this wide open space
and our blessed health
and did I mention this one precious life?

so, I'm doing a little moratorium on my two biggest time wasters: instagram and facebook for the month of January (at least). After that, I'll see how I feel - did it serve me well to take a break? Am I able to be more intentional and manage my time on those platforms after a little time away? Does it serve me well right now in my life to be on them at all? Time will tell. But I'm excited to be more intentional and use those minutes of my day doing something that means something; anything more worthwhile than scrolling. 

If you're feeling the supreme pull to scroll - join me in this month long moratorium of whatever social media applications are your biggest time sucks. And make your own rules, this is unofficial and the whole point is to help bring intentionality and clarity to your days. 

I do still plan to blog. It feeds my soul to get these words, memories, and thoughts out of my brain. So if you want to keep following along, you'll have to subscribe for email notifications, or just check back on your own as I will not be pushing updates to facebook. 

Sending my love to you and your family for a beautiful, healthy, inspiring, and empowering new year. 
Let's go 2022 - let's do better; let's be better.

xxox
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