Memorial Day has come and gone. For the first time in several years, I decided to unplug from Facebook for two days. That probably is not a big deal for most people, but since I am a social media coach, it was a challenge.  For forty-eight hours, I was so tempted to peek at my Facebook stream. Especially since I was actually working in Facebook on some of  my clients’ pages. But I restrained myself and discovered there really is an upside.  Here are my top five realizations:

1) Shameless and constant self-promotion by the usual suspects was not on my radar!  I didn’t miss that at all.

2) Being offline gives one an incredible amount of focus. Now, I am a fabulous multi-tasker, and usually have several internet browsers open at once. So, my life was very uncomplicated for the past two days. A pretty relaxing feeling.

3) Returning to a novel I began several months ago was a welcome distraction from checking my iPad before I dozed off to sleep.  Going for my morning run without thinking about what someone posted and if and when I was going to respond was a nice feeling of freedom.

4)  Facebook is not the end-all of Social Media engagement. I love Twitter and You Tube, too so I had a chance to schedule some Tweets and come up with a new video series for the summer. And, a big bonus, I wasn’t subjected to all the ads that come up on the side of the page, related to whatever words I was typing. Nice!

5) Even though I schedule my time on Facebook every day – I found myself with extra time to do things around the office that needed my attention. I was productive and free from getting caught up in chats with my friends.

Bottom line, as I always tell my coaching clients, it’s important to be consistent on Social Media. Taking weeks off is not recommended. Taking two days off will not hurt  your marketing strategy if you regularly engage with your audience.  My stream was waiting for me, as well as several messages and friend requests. Nice to know I was missed!

Have you ever taken a break from Social Media? How did it work out? If you use Social Media for business, did you feel guilty that you were not online?  Please share your experience.

Laurie Hurley is the Founder of The Social Networking Navigator and spends most of her days online coaching her clients or marketing her business. She also sets her timer regularly so she doesn’t get sucked in to Social Media and advises her clients to do the same.

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