One of the most difficult things I found to do during my first forays into social media breaks was rewiring the pathways in my brain during quiet moments at work and in life.
Get up to make tea at work and check email, social media feeds, and things like that while tea steeps. Picking up my phone during breaks at home to see what is up in the world.
After a few extended social media breaks, finding the paths back to the reasons I take breaks to begin with becomes clear much more quickly.
Instead of checking out social media sites, I reach for a notebook and rough out scenes in stories I’m working on. I open Evernote on my phone and make a runsheet (list of topics) for the next episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. I grab a book or open a story on my phone and read. If I email people, it’s about writing and making things that make us all happy — not gossip and politics and other things that leave me feeling crappy or ashamed.
And at some point, I begin doing nothing at all during those times……except enjoying time in my head thinking about nothing at all…
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