Should Do Instead

FB Twitter have been dormant for a week now.  I feel less distracted, less likely to interrupt something I'm doing to check what's new.  I've not had anxiety withdrawal or FOMO.  I also don't really care if anyone's missed my absence or even noted.  Did I do things that I wouldn't have done had the distraction continued?  So far probably not.  I have engaged in some drawing, visiting a couple of parks, returning to my colored pencils with an adult style coloring book, retrieved my putter and good driver, and made my bicycle suitable for riding though I might have done these anyway. On the other hand, I hadn't even though some have been on my task list daily.  A book came to my attention so I started reading it, but I've taken books from the Hoopla service before while still engaged in social media.  What may be different is that so far I've not timed my session with it to maintain a pace to completion.  I downloaded an English translation of The Quran which I always wanted to read.  The longest chapter, 286 verses, comes right after the short introduction.  With pacing I got through it, understanding why some of the references now viewed as Anti-Semitic appear upfront, but also why some of the most basic Islamic requirements such as Hajj and the annual Ramadan fast appear in the same chapter.  Don't know if I'll get through the rest of this.  For sure, FB would have distracted my progress on this long chapter, probably a little longer than our most lengthy double Parsha.

Those are the accessories, though, as is FB and Twitter.  The really substantial initiatives, other than gardening which has gone very well, still languish.  I have a Social Security appeal to prepare, writing that has not progressed from ideas to paragraphs, two trips I'd like to take but haven't, and a course by DVD on electronics that has not moved forward as well as it could have.  FB was not the distraction that inhibited progress on these.  My real degree of commitment to them might be.

At one week, it's been a good week off, something akin to a cyberspace vacation.