Paleo Diet for Social Media Specifics!

A couple of days ago, I began to wonder what a Social Media Paleo Diet would look like.  Check it out here.

Keeping those goals in mind, I think my time on social media should be really, really limited.  There shouldn't be enough time to just "browse around".  It should be more like a bathroom trip - get in, get out. 

This is what I'm thinking: 

Twitter - can check once per day - 10 mins.
Facebook - can check twice per week - 15 mins each.
Google Reader - can check once per day - 10 mins
Blogger - can use any time as I want (writing new blogs)
News Sites - can check twice per day for 5 minutes.

I've also been thinking about limiting time for video games and things like Netflix.  I could see these consuming all of my time if I'm not online...  As for now, these are still being thought over.

As the month goes on, I'm hoping to shorten these even more!

Do these seem too long or short?  Are there other sites you visit?  Make up your own times! 

After all, we're not cavemen.

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To prepare, I'm going to do a few things. 

1. Lists.  I'm going to make lists on facebook and twitter for the people I actually care about.  That way, I don't have to surf through everything and can still see how my friends are doing.  I may even make a few for quotes, celebrities, leaders, etc. 

2. Removing all comfortability.  When I open up my internet browser, boom, facebook is just a click away through a link.  Same thing on my phone - tweetdeck is in the center of my phone.  So, I'm going to hide these away.  Goodbye links and goodbye easy access to apps. 

3. Pray.  This experience will be tough.  My only prayer during this time is this: "Lord, be my treasure.  Let me see how I am simply trying to fill a gap by doing all this social media junk.  Let me find all my satisfaction only in you."

So, anybody else interested?  May is just around the corner...

The Paleo Diet for Social Media.

During April, I was challenged to try the Paleo diet.  Basically, the diet only allows you to eat what a caveman could eat - fresh fruit, meat, vegetables, nuts, eggs.  No bread, sweets or even milk!

And I failed miserably. 

Okay, it wasn't a total loss.  The bigger goal in doing the diet was to watch what I was eating, and not just eat the same junk I've been eating since I was a sugar-hungry kid.  So, I did learn about some healthy foods by branching out, as well as how to resist the call of sugar. 

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While I was doing this, I began to wonder, "What if I applied these same principles elsewhere?"  I mean, those 'paleo' men seemed to live pretty well without Dr. Pepper or bread.  What else could I do without?  Where else am I losing discipline?

One of the biggest areas for me is the internet.  I can get into this (sick) cycle of checking Facebook, reading there for a while, then hopping to Twitter to read all of the updates, then heading to Google Reader, catching up on some blogs, use Google Explore, check CNN, FOX News... then back to Facebook.  What?!  Where did that hour just go?  Just like this:

Somehow this social media / connecting thing has become an idol in my life.  Even if I'm just surfing "Christian" blogs and John Piper's twitter feed, I can still waste time trying to feel 'connected'.  It's consuming, it's an idol.  There is a void of lonliness which social media tries to fill, but it is always lacking.  So I keep coming back.

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So, I thought, "What if there was a Social Media Paleo Diet?"  What would it look like? 

I don't think all social media should be cut out, but it definitely needs it's boundaries.  Strict ones.  The goal isn't to become absent online. 

The goals would be to:

1. Limit time in social media to get to important things.  There are good, beneficial uses for social media.  But, I rarely get to them b/c I stop and watch another "Friday" remix or a laughing baby. 

2. Get more involved with real relationships.  A big goal would be to build more real community.  Write a letter.  Volunteer.  Grab some coffee with a friend.  Start a regularly-meeting group.  At the very least - stop checking twitter while ten of us are sitting together.

3. Remove Social Media's power over me.   The final goal would be to begin to realize just how hooked I am to status updates, links, and tweets.  I believe it has more power over me than I think.  It's a very deceptive idol, this desire to be 'connected.'

Sound interesting?  I'm going to think more on what it would specifically look like.  But, I'm shooting for starting this in May.

We do not do discipline because we are strong, but because we are incredibly weak.