The first thing I do every morning, even before taking a shower, used to be checking my Facebook and Twitter. From the minute I wake up to the minute I turn off my light in the night I used to be on Facebook and Twitter. And it wasn’t only at home, but even at work, in class, on the street, during meetings. Everywhere. Anytime.  I just had the urge to see what had happened in the 3 minutes I was in the bathroom.  I had the perfect excuse. Actually two of them. First, Facebook was (still is) the only easy and efficient way for me to stay connected with my family and friends around the world (and people who used to be my friends, and people that weren’t really my friends). Second, I get paid to be on Facebook and Twitter. It is in my job description. I used to spend many hours on other social networks, but I was addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Did I mention I also used to spend about 5 hours a day on e-mails and I am not even a celebrity replying to my fans? On an average day I used to send about 100 e-mails, ranging from complete novels to one sentence with a link. You can easily see how much time I used to spend on social networking Web sites and e-mails. Let me fix that, you can easily see how I used to waste my life on social networking Web sites and e-mails.

One morning I woke and I thought “Enough! Time for an End of the Year Resolution!” On December 17th I started my social media/e-mails fast.  Digital detox so to speak. I promised myself to spend only 30 minutes a day on social networks and only an hour on e-mail for a month. (There was no limit on the time I was allowed to spend on news Web sites.) The following are abstracts from my journal.

Dec. 17, 2009, 9:03 a.m.: Here we go. I already ran out of my minutes for the day.  At least I am going to Chicago in half an hour.

Dec. 19, 2009, noon: Wow I spent two days without thinking about Facebook. Well kind of. I spent 14 hours flying (talking to the girl next to me, solving sudokos, flirting with the hot Italian flight attendant, sleeping). Two hours running around the airport in Rome. Two more hours nervously waiting for my delayed flight and listening to soccer fans singing. Two more hours waiting for my lost luggage and trying to describe it. Oh and eight hours time difference. And 10 hours of sleeping.  So that is 13 hours without the urge to log onto Facebook. Thirteen hours I spent with my family and friends I hadn’t seen for 1.5 years. Maybe the other 28 days would be as easy as the first two J

Dec. 20, 2009, 1:12 p.m.: My sister just told me I am out of minutes. I should start using an alarm clock or something else. There is no way I can remember to log off Facebook after 30 minutes.

Dec. 22, 2009, 1:32 p.m.: Just ran out of my minutes on social networks while talking to my roommate. Time to move to Gmail and use the chat option there. Not sure that the 12 minutes I have left on e-mail would be enough to hear the stories since I left Milwaukee.

Dec. 27, 2009, 1 p.m.: OMG, so many pictures from Christmas! How am I supposed to see all of them in 30 minutes? I guess I will have to see some of them tomorrow.

Dec. 27, 2009, 1:31 p.m.: OMG, 238 e-mails! How am I supposed to read and respond to all of them?

Dec. 28, 2009, 12 a.m.: I had to see the rest of the Christmas picture!

Dec. 29, 2009, noon: From @Kate_marigold: ”@addy_dren You sound like a mad scientist” LOL

Dec. 31, 2009, 10 a.m.: Catching up on e-mail. Sending out New Year’s wishes. I wonder what everyone is doing tonight… Oh, one of my friends is celebrating on a boat. That would be fun. I want to see pictures.

Jan. 2, 2010, noon: Happy New Year! Now that everyone is sober (or almost everyone), let’s see some pictures… Bad timing for a Facebook fast. So many pictures. So much to catch up with!

Jan. 3, 2010, 1:02 p.m.: Still catching up with pictures and e-mails.

Jan. 3, 2010, 1: 43 p.m.: Oh, f*ck! I have an assigned article. I know the perfect source for it, but the only contact info I have for him is his Facebook. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Jan. 7, 2010, 11 a.m.: Still catching up with pictures viewing.  Why do people share almost every minute of their lives with the rest of the world? Why does the rest of the world want to know what everyone is doing at any given time?

Jan. 10, 2010, 6:30 a.m.: Just got home. Need to talk to my best friend and tell her what just happened. She is not online. Well, that is good. I can just write an e-mail. Chatting will take more than 30 minutes.

Jan. 12, 2010, 7:30 p.m.: Just got the urge to log onto Facebook, but I am out of minutes for the day. I need a distraction. Good thing I am not sex fasting.

Jan. 13, 2010, noon: Watching the news to see what happened in Haiti. I would have known about the disaster yesterday if I was on Twitter. News spread so fast there.

Jan. 13, 2010, 8:25 p.m.: Splitting my e-mail time for the day was the best idea ever.

Jan. 15, 2010, 8 p.m.: I just realized I wasn’t on Facebook all day long and I didn’t have a problem with it. Maybe I am getting used to it. Maybe I can live without Facebook. Well, maybe that is pushing it.

Jan. 16, 2010, 2:30 p.m.: Does Ovi count as a social network? I know it is supposedly a social network, but I use it to sync my phone and upload documents. I have no friends or shared pictures on it.

Jan. 17, 2010, 9 a.m.: Finished packing. One of my roommates should already be back in Milwaukee. Wonder how her flight was. I should keep my fast until 5 p.m. Bulgarian time. Just to be honest with myself. Only 8 more hours, not a biggie! Plus I will be somewhere above the Atlantic at that time.

Jan. 20, 2010, 10 p.m. (U.S. Central Time): The fast is over. It was over a while ago, but I got a chance to get online just today. Airlines and the weather are definitely not my friends. I’ve been on Facebook and HootSuite for more than 30 minutes for first time in a month. Honestly, nothing special. I am about to log off. Odd feeling…

What I learned from this experience?

1. I don’t have to respond to every e-mail within 12 hours. We demand quick information and attention but it won’t be the end of the world if we don’t get it ASAP.

2. I don’t need to see every picture posted on Facebook.

3. I don’t need to read every article linked on Twitter. I won’t drastically fall behind with news, concepts, ideas and new technologies.

4. If I spend more than an hour offline, I won’t miss anything very important. Even if something happens, I will still learn about it sooner or later.

5. The experiment thought me how to prioritize my information needs.

6. It feels great to call someone and say: “Let’s go for a coffee in the afternoon” instead of writing it on his Facebook wall.

Would I have successfully finished the experiment if I wasn’t on vacation? Probably not. But even after the experiment is over, I still spend much less time on social networks than I used to. Now I spend more time talking to the people who matter. I mean talking face-to-face or over the phone not on chats. Most importantly, checking Facebook is not the first thing I do in the morning anymore.