I did something wild this morning.

I took Facebook and Twitter off of my phone. I AM SO BRAVE.

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while — hell, I’ve even recommended it to other people when they said social media had taken up too much of their lives. 

I haven’t done it yet because I love Facebook. I love Twitter. I’m a compulsive reader— it is so nice to have so much STUFF at my fingertips. Reading the news and updates about my friends’ lives is somehow comforting. It makes me feel so less alone while I am partaking in the beautiful chore that is raising (and feeding) children and work.

Facebook and Twitter make me mentally feel like I still have one foot in my old life, while I am physically tethered to my mom life. Ya know?

But it was taking over. I was looking at my phone TOO MUCH. It was making me lazy. I would always get sucked into an article instead of sorting laundry or preparing lunches or responding to work emails or doing things that would make me a better human (like actually talking to my children).

Then, this morning, I was looking at my feed instead of getting up or sleeping more and my friend posted this article on FB and I started reading it and I thought, “Enough.”

I didn’t even read the entire article. I know what it was going to say— that looking at your phone so much while around your kids is BAD. And you SHOULDN’T DO IT.

So, I just deleted the apps then and there. Done.

I mentioned to a friend today l that I deleted FB / Twitter from my phone and she said, “Oh. because of the data collection?” And I said no, I really didn’t mind that part of it (honestly, targeted advertising makes my life much easier). I was just tired of being so addicted. I wanted to free up my attention.

I still use my phone to read the news. But have you ever stopped to think that with social media, what we’re reading isn’t really the news, but a “hot take” on the news?

I mean, let’s not get crazy. I still have the apps on my laptop and you can’t pry Instagram from my cold, dead hands. I still need to be connected. I just want to be more connected to my kids. And that means hands free parenting.