I Deleted Facebook from my Phone and Couldn’t be Happier

As part of the 2017 resolutions and reflecting back on 2016 I’ve decided to delete Facebook from my phone.

I used to have this problem a while ago with the Stuff.co.nz app on my phone, I was constantly checking the news, not really gaining anything from it apart from wasting time, so I deleted that app over a year ago, and haven’t missed it at all. Instead, I feel I have replaced it with more Facebook.

I like many other I sure do have a love-hate relationship with Facebook, it allows you the ability to connect with people anywhere in the world, family from overseas, and keep up with the latest news and info in groups and pages that are interesting to you.

But I began questioning do I need all of this in my pocket on my phone, and I don’t think so. The benefit of Facebook slightly outweighs the negatives of it, and I can’t get rid of my account fully. Mainly due to having to run a bunch of pages, something you can’t do without actually having a personal account.

The plan of attack:

Remove Facebook, Facebook Pages and Messenger (which I hate more than Facebook) from my phone
Batch process Facebook time when I am at home on my PC – People can wait for a reply, and I don’t need to know what everyone is up to all the time
Go through and tidy up friends, pages and groups so things I see are more relevant to me

Being in the moment

I’ve caught myself a lot being on my phone when I should be in the moment of whatever I am supposed to be doing. I see people all the time staring at their screens, and to me it’s just a waste of time. It is better to talk to people in person, have a face to face conversation.

But what about if you miss something?

I haven’t had Facebook on my phone for about 3 days now (I started early) and I haven’t missed anything at all.

Now to be clear I’m not giving up on Facebook altogether, I’m just allocating time for it once per day and commenting, liking and all the stuff once per day.

I check it out at night and give myself around 15-20mins and in that time I am able to see everything that was posted in the day, check out all the notifications I have and feel much better about not checking my phone the 10 – 20 times a day I was previously.

What if someone wants to get hold of you?

Well, to be honest, all the important people in my life have my cell number so can get hold of me anytime, for other people they will have to wait for a reply when I go on the once a day I go on.

But what if you want to post something to Facebook?

I’ll just post it when I am at night if I really need to, do I want to post something live to Facebook? Well I’ve had a think about that, and there isn’t anything that I’ve done in the past that really benefits from posting live, or updating in the moment, THESE THINGS CAN WAIT. I can take photos and video on my phone to publish later if I want.

Bonuses of not having Facebook on my phone

So far in this short period these are the positives of deleting Facebook from my phone:

I’m spending more time in the moment with family and friends and staying focused on what I am working on
I’m not checking Facebook the instant I wake up to see what has been happening, I’m starting the mornings much more productively
My battery on my phone lasts way longer
I’m not seeing posts during the day that make me question what I am doing, spending my money on or doing with my time

As for negatives:

I might be slightly harder to get hold of (although I really didn’t use messenger much before)
People might get annoyed they won’t get an instant reply from me

What about Twitter?

Twitter to me is a different tool to Facebook, it has its benefits as well as its negatives. I was really in two minds if I should remove this or not.

But I have. I’ve taken it off my phone and just check it out on my PC when I feel like it. This may change, and I am sure to put it back on my phone later on in the year when NZ Secret Santa kicks off again.

What about you?

Am I completely crazy? How much time do you spend on Facebook on your phone?

My challenge to you is:

For 1 week, think about all the times you are looking at Facebook on your phone, write down when you check it, Write down the times you aren’t in the moment and staring at what other people are doing
Delete Facebook from your phone for 1 week
Check Facebook at a set time for a set period, 15-30mins is a good time to start with
Evaluate if you need it back on your phone, were you more productive?

Let me know if you think I’m crazy, or how your 1 week challenge went in the comments below.