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I Took a Break From Social Media for 30 Days: Here’s What I Learned

Nasar Elarabi
3 min read
I Took a Break From Social Media for 30 Days: Here’s What I Learned

For the month of June, I decided to do a social media fast. That means no social media for 30 days. I don’t know about you, but for me, Facebook is a distraction. And as a real estate investor, it’s usually distracting at times throughout the day when I need to focus on the task at hand. And of course, things blow up in this business, and there are always deals that need some extra attention. At one point, I thought I was the only one addicted, but in talking to many other of my entrepreneur friends, I found that they were addicted as well. I talked with them about ways to reduce time on social media — and put more time into running our businesses.

Week One

The first week, I was going into relapse after deactivating Facebook. I was checking my phone a few times every few hours, realizing that I was not active on the site anymore. I always write down my things to do in my day planner. Some people use online planners, but I personally need to physically write it down. I noticed that I was able to blow through my tasks at hand. I did not do one task, then take a break to hop on social media. I was actually more productive. I also noticed I was able to deescalate my acquisition manager’s issues and questions a lot faster due to the fact that my tasks at hand were already completed.

mid-year-checkup

Related: How to Fill Your Life With Positive Influences (for More Happiness & Productivity!)

Week Two

By the second week, I stopped going through the withdrawal of not having access to social media. The first few days of going cold turkey are usually the roughest. In this particular week, there were not too many tasks for me to get done because I’d completed them the first week. Normally, if something does not get done, it gets rolled over to the next day. I am also ashamed to admit that the next day sometimes turns into the next week.

I mean, if you have to change locks at a property, that could eat up 3 hours or so depending on everyone’s schedule and travel time. I don’t know about you guys, but if an absentee owner does not have keys to their property, I offer to change locks FREE of charge to them as long as we have a signed contract or I get first dibs at the house. In the event I don’t buy the house, I send them the keys. Being that I had light schedule, me being out 3 hours at a time did not affect my productivity.

Week Three

In the third week, I was not even thinking about Facebook — or any other social media platform, for that matter. I was getting a lot of text messages from friends asking if I was OK due to them not seeing me on Facebook, which is rare. I mean, a lot of people thought I was going through some rough things. One guy said he thought I was caught up in some kind of scandal, and few people thought I blocked them. I had to explain that I was simply trying to “master myself” — and anything you can’t detach from, you are dependent upon. Anyway, I was able to come up with some great new strategies to acquire more deals. I am now in the implementation stage.

proactive-property-manager

Related: 7 Highly Actionable Tips to Help Your Productivity Soar This Year

Week Four

By week four, it was a breeze, and of course I felt good because I was able to detach. And even better, we had a very profitable month in my business. I also had more time to get on BiggerPockets. I don’t consider BP to be a distraction because you can make very profitable connections and gather tips to grow your business. I encourage you to download the BiggerPockets app. Be sure to get a Pro account to get all the features to maximize your business.

In conclusion, disconnecting from social media might be too much at first, but remember, Rome was not built in a day. If you use Google Chrome, you can add an extension called “Stay Focusd.” (And yes, I spelled that correctly — it does not have an “e.”) Now I simply block certain times on Facebook throughout the day when I should be working. It works well for me and allows me to focus. I challenge you guys to take a social media break and put an intense focus on your business.

Have you ever taken a social media break?

Let me know with a comment!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.