My “Social Media Cleanse” was both eye opening and obnoxious. Easy as pie… or so I thought. The act of deleting social media apps from my phone was pretty simple. The effect that, that action would take on my day-to-day life was amazing.

Guys, I did homework BEFORE the day it was due. The time spent sitting at work turned in to me on my cellphone, to actually getting homework done! It’s crazy how doing so much nothing on my cellphone and on my laptop actually took up time in my day. I spent more time in class paying attention, and actually went to bed at a decent time instead of staying up on Facebook for an extra hour or two.

Although there was a lot of good that came out of it, there were also some realizations that were troubling. Lazy Saturday turned into me watching my roommates on their phones. It was a time (I thought) was being spent spending time hanging out and enjoying the opportunity to relax with my friends. What I didn’t know was that it was an illusion of company. We were together but separate. Being the only one not able to be on Facebook helped me realized just how often we spend time together on our phones. I noticed it during class, while eating lunch in The Hang, and while sitting with my roommates in the suite. I also noticed how much of that conversation had to do with passing around pictures and funny videos we found on Facebook.

I really enjoyed my week without social media. It was full of human contact, celebrations in person instead of a “congratulations” on Facebook, and a cellphone battery that lasted almost a whole day instead of until lunch. I made some new friends, and got back in touch with some old ones. Overall I was happier and felt much less alone. Instead of seeing what everyone else was doing on Facebook the only life I could see was mine. My life felt fuller because I wasn’t comparing it to what I saw other people doing on Facebook.

Will I be deleting Facebook for good? No. In this day in age it is too important of a communication tool to not be used regularly. Unfortunately with that being said, the easiest way to make use of that communication is to keep the app on my phone. But I will be usually what I learned from this week to balance my time on Facebook and life.

One thing is clear, I will be having more of these Facebook cleanses in the future – and I would recommended you do the same.