Day 1 is Over!

Breathe a sigh of relief, I made it through my first day without Facebook.

Let's review the day:

• I woke up, fed the dogs,  got ready for work and read USA Today rather than clicking on Facebook from my Android phone. My husband comes in from walking the dogs and shouts "Get off Facebook!" "I'm NOT!!! See! USA Today! At least it's a similar color scheme," I said as I shove my phone in his face as he tried to get the leash of Buddy. Don't ask where Lucy was. Probably sneaking a peek a Facebook... just kidding.
• My daily routine at work changed: I log on to my computer, check my work e-mail (e-mail of which I refuse to have sent directly to my phone), and checked on my students for the online class I teach. So I logged into Blackboard INSTEAD of Facebook. 

So far so good. Me 2. Facebook 0.

• My work day made it tough to stay off Facebook:
• As I worked on our Tradeshow display, my supervisor make a comment about bullet points, "Happiness is a bullet point." Oh how I wanted to post this as a status update! The temptation! I'm still unsure as to how I fought through this one. But I did.
• My coworker/friend and I headed to the pastry shop in our office building to get our daily breakfast snack. After opting for the asiago cheese bagel and chatting about the usual small talk, we went back to the office. "I read this morning about a group in California wanting an R rating on Rango, that new Pixar movie," I said. I explained to him about the notion of putting R ratings on movies containing excessive smoking. "I bet I would get a lot of comments to the article link if I posted it on Facebook." Fudge! No Facebook!
• A little later, I was talking to our Executive Assistant about the online class I'm teaching. During the conversation, I kept referring to BlackBoard and BlackBook. You can tell where my mind was... Facebook.
• Going back to the Tradeshow display, every time I saved my document I wanted to reach for my phone while it took 5 minutes to save.
• Then the last one, the kicker: I realized yesterday I use Facebook to relieve stress or frustration. It helps me clear my head just as running does, or smoking did before I quit. By shifting the focus, I'm able to calm down and get back to work with a clearer mind. 

I'm on Day 2 now working on breaking the habit. The worst part so far is the built-in app for Facebook on my Ally. And no matter how many forums I read, there just doesn't seem to be a solution. Time to put my newspaper apps and blogging apps on the main screen just to avoid the shimmering blue and stark white symbol that links to my ultimate sacrifice.

Face(book)less for 40 Days

Hi. My name is Amanda. I'm addicteed to Facebook.

The idea started last year during Lent. It struck me like a bolt of lightning when someone else's cell phone ewent off during Mass. I turned to my (then) fiance and said, "Facebook!" The birth of the ultimate sacrifice. And that was before I considered myself an addict.

Why? With social media booming, why?

Isn't the purpose of Lent to sacrifice a pleasure. Now, I'm not super religious. But c'mon, Jesus Christ gave us his life. I will honor his ultimate sacrifice with my own.

The whole Facebook thing is really THE ULTIMATE sacrifice? Um, yea. Do you have any idea how much I'm on the Book? Let me explain. If you're my "friend" on Facebook and you posted a picture in the past year, I saw it. If you're my "friend" on Facebook and you posted lyrics to a song I know or an article I agree with, I "liked" it. If you're a "friend" on Facebook and re-posted information about a lost dog in another city, state, or country, I re-posted. If you're a "friend" on Facebook and post any status update, any link or changed you're relationships status or job, I saw and I remember it all as if we sat together in the lunchroom every day.

Is my obsession sinking in yet?

Let's just agree to this: giving up Facebook... or untraining my fingers to type "www.facebook.com" every time I open Windows Explorer and clicking the Droid Facebook app... is going to be difficult. And for the next 40 days, it seems my dogs Lucille Puppy and Budrick Houdini will be giving up Facebook too: I won't be logging into their accounts either.

And that last comment is a key statement to reinforce the fact that I, Amanda, am addicted to Facebook.

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