The Benefits of NOT Being Online
August 28, 2020
Hey, you probably know me as the founder of Claritask or as a Podcaster where I nakedly talk about my Bootstrapping Saas journey.
Since early this summer I took a sabbatical from my online presence.
I used to be way too active on Twitter, Instagram, some Facebook, and way more then necessary on private Slack groups.
I came to a point where I was noticing it pull me in different directions.
Just a few days ago I openned up my personal Twitter feed for the first time in 1.5 months.
I was immediately bombarded with different subjects, thoughts, industries, politics, beliefs, news.
Imagine entering a bar and listening to everyone you come across on the way to getting your beer?
Yah!
Did I miss being online? Nope. Not at all.
I don’t recall myself being this healthy mentally and physically.
Not being online has given my focus back.
I can actually focus on my work at hand (short-term focus), as well as my life goals, which are not altered every day by some *new* thing I notice on Twitter or Insta, that I HAVE to do as well.
Am I missing out on things?
You could argue so.
I might be missing the launch of the latest book everyone is talking about.
But, I don’t feel like I am missing out.
You see, I don’t have to know everything that is going on around me.
I can actually say —“No, I haven’t heard about ‘The Mom Test’ book. Please, do tell!”
I can give my friend a chance to tell me something I don’t know.
Oh and by not being on Instagram, I don’t actually know what my closest friends are up to, so I give them a call and we have an incredible chat for 5-10 minutes.
Moving forward, I plan to be less online. Leaving less of a trace. Having more meaningful meetups and conversations with people irl.
I get to see their flaws. They get to see mine.
No more of pre-polished over-filtered lives we are exposed to on social media.
I sound drastic. I know.
But, I have never felt more alive.
I am reading actual books that someone researched well and wrote with a goal to teach and inspire.
Being offline has been a life changer for me.
Will I completely stay away from it?
No.
What I’ll do instead is continue with not leaving so much of a trace behind.
Limit the number of people/topics I follow.
Keep all social media apps un-installed on my phone. I’ll only use them when in front of an actual computer.
Oh, yes. Not to forget about my Email.
I have unsubscribed from almost all Newsletters.
I have a “Newsletter” folder on my Gmail account reserved for about 3-4 Newsletters I like to receive from people I have a ton of respect for.
My Inbox has only work related stuff, in which I receive 1-3 Emails per day at most.
For me, there’s much more to life than my online presence.
The secret to good living, for me, is not about knowing everything and anything that goes around.
It’s about laissez faire focus on long term goals, while going about good daily habits.
And I will continue writing on my blog here once-in-a-while and mostly on the Claritask blog, where I enjoy exploring business related problems and opportunities.
Writing is something I love.
And now I have the actual time and focus to write more.
Much love.