Do You Need A Break Today?

Sunday I purposefully decided to take a complete sabbatical from social media.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed or knew you needed a small break?

Here are some of the signs:

• clouded thoughts
• inability to rest
• insistently checking accounts for updates and responses
• looking at the remote and seeing a red light blinking and then realize it’s not your phone

It’s a crazy thing being online because you’re expected well, to be online. So how can we balance all of this?

Forget trying to balance at all, instead take one step at a time and be purposeful with each thing you do.

If there’s no reason for doing something don’t. Understanding the “why” is key in successfully communicating.

My goal for this blog post is to give you permission to take a break. Now granted, if you haven’t started, there’s really nothing to break from. For you it’s time to start, time to show up, and remember to have fun with the process.

If you’re just starting your blog, be reasonable based on your own schedule. Don’t set a goal to blog everyday. I’ll tell you right now, if you do so, it ain’t going to happen. At some point you’re going to burn out.

Set realistic goals, yet challenging ones. It may be a challenge to blog every week and for some the stretch may be in blogging twice a week. Regardless of where you are get started.

If you were where I was, feeling overly stimulated between your phone, computer, iPad and whatever other gadgets you have, take a selah. Take a break.

You can even plan your break well in advance by writing blog posts and statuses prior to the time you’ll actually post them. Then schedule them to be sent at the time you’ve set.

One thing you don’t want to do is completely abandon everything. Ever seen an abandoned Facebook page?

It hasn’t been updated in months or it’s been updated, yet every single status update has the TweetDeck logo in front. When using systems that allow you to pre-schedule updates like TweetDeck, HootSuite, SocialOomph, MarketMeSuite and others, be mindful that you will still need to show up.

People will respond to what you’re saying and you want them too, this creates community. Of course if your purpose is not to create a vibrant, active community, disregard this post and continue as you were.

However, if you’re looking to create a community that looks forward to you showing up, go for it remembering not to overload yourself and set expectations that no one would want to attempt.

Just like with anything else, you know where you are and what you can handle. If you’re ready, proceed, if you’re unsure take a selah, if you are hesitant, start now.

Let’s grow together!

Now it’s your turn. What steps will you take this week to more forward with your blog, website, or social community?