Beautiful humans,

It’s Saturday morning. All is sweet and quiet. My kids are beside me at the kitchen table, drawing and colouring. I like the sounds of them. I was excited to write today, even on a weekend, so here I am.

(Want to listen as you read? Listen to the Podcast episode of this blog post below!)

I wanted to share a realisation I had over my holiday.

This year, I’ve decided to consume more blog posts than social media.

Here’s the thing: after reading blog posts, I feel inspired, motivated, itching to create. I always learn something new. Like yesterday: I read this gloriously weird blog post by a guy who has tracked every single piece of clothing he has worn in the last 3 years, complete with incredible graphs. My kids were fascinated by the graphs on my iPad, and sat with me for a good 10 minutes as we dissected them. I’m still thinking about it, and considering what kinds of experiments I’d like to consider in my own life. It feels deep and alive.

In comparison, after reading social media, I feel overstimulated and overwhelmed. I don’t feel like creating. I feel like all of creativity is meaningless, and I don’t learn anything. It makes me develop comparisonitis, which is something I usually don’t experience. I don’t learn shit, and I can’t remember anything I’ve read after a scrolling session. It feels shallow and without benefit (beyond a way to kill time).

My simple algorithm to remind me: Blogging > Social Media.

Here’s how I’m supporting this shift:

  • Deleted all social media apps off my phone & iPad
  • Use News Feed Eradicator plugin on my browser (I’ve used it for years already, it definitely helps)
  • Have Bloglovin app on my phone & iPad – it’s where you can subscribe to all your favourite blogs & read their latest blog posts in the one place
  • Purposefully sought out new blogs to read on a variety of topics
  • Asked friends for their recommendations on blogs to add to my favourites collection
  • I’ve mostly stopped looking at my phone, and instead use my iPad because it’s easier to read blog posts on – and it feels like a good subliminal reminder to me to read deeply instead of do a shallow scroll
  • In times when I usually read social media, I read blogs instead. For example: I like to read when I eat breakfast, and just after dinner. Instead of opening a social media app (I don’t have them anymore anyway), I open Bloglovin. It’s blog reading timmmmme, bitchezzzz!

Blogs I follow

I’ve been blogging since 2004 and have followed so many for so long. I’m bummed that a lot don’t blog at all or as often as usual. Still, there’s plenty that do!

Here’s ones I’ve been following for the longest time:

There’s more, but those are ones I’ve been reading for over a decade and am always excited to see a new post from.

And I defo want to keep expanding that list. Pop me an email (support@leoniedawson.com) with your favourite blog recommendations! I would LOVE to hear them!

What this means for my business

At this point, I’ll be:

  • Re-prioritising blogging over social media (I always have anyway – but want to emphasise it even more)
  • Batch creating content for social media & getting my assistant to schedule it
  • Having my assistant manage all social media
  • Continuing to tell people that my mailing list is the very best way to hear from me because #fucksocialmedia.

I’m not sure if I’ll one day just fuck off social media marketing entirely from my marketing activities. I know I’ve been thinking about it for years already and wrote that blog post about businesses that have already done it. I saw artist Kelly Rae Roberts announced a few months ago she was letting go of Facebook and Instagram as a marketing tool. Writer Alexandra Franzen hasn’t used social media for years. Clearly, I have a boner for fucking it off. I currently have FOMO about it though. I’ll (of course) let you know if and when I have the courage to do so.

In the meantime, I’ll keep its interference in my life + business at a bare minimum.

My experiment so far

It’s only early weeks so far into my new Blogging > Social Media algorithm. It’s feeling better on my brain, heart, soul and creativity.

I want to make more, and live more, and that’s the most important thing of all.

I loves ya,

 

 

 

 

 

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