In every person’s life there comes a time when it feels like there’s a convergence of too many things coming at the same time. Sometimes those things are good; sometimes those things are bad. Sometimes those things are just what they are. Sounds kind of poetic doesn’t it?

Tired me

Over the course of almost 14 years, I’ve put together a lot of content. It started on my business blog back in 2005, I continued it with this blog starting in 2007, and I’ve added other blogs over the years. I have written for a lot of other people, sometimes actually appreciated for doing it. Other times, I took the money and ran and never heard one way or another whether the client liked what I wrote. That’s just the way it is.

Going back to the topic of convergence, when things are going good you feel like you can create and create and create, and everything comes easy. I remember some years ago where I was able to write five articles a day, and times when I decided that I was going to put up a video every day in a month and on some off those days I’d create 3 to 4 videos in a day. That was kind of fun, and I felt electrified.

When things aren’t going so well, you don’t feel like creating anything. In one way I’m lucky in that I always have something to say. I’ve almost never had writers block. I’ve written some things here and there that weren’t very good but at least they were written. I’ve had some videos that have been relatively short because I had something I wanted to talk about that was a quick idea I wanted to share an opinion on. Either way, I always created something on a normal regular basis for me, which is at least once a week.

Right now I’ve got a whole lot of things going on, and none of them are good. Almost all of them are in my personal life, but I can’t say that business is going great either. Luckily, business isn’t as much a problem as everything else is.

I find myself in a place where I’m going to do something that is definitely not me, but I need to do it. I need to take a break, and is not going to last very long… at least I don’t think so. My expectation is to take one week away from social media, and one week away from creating anything new. The thing about expectations is that you don’t always get what you expect.

For instance, staying away from social media for a week is actually not that hard to do. I’ve done it in the past, and I’ve done kind of well with it. I don’t include YouTube or Instagraham as social media, which means I’ll be looking at pictures and watching videos; I’m throwing myself a bone! 🙂

They don’t count because in those instances you’re not communicating with anyone and no one’s communicating with you. If I create a video I’m not posting it during the week I’m off. If I’m somewhere and share a picture on Instagram, I’m doing it for me and not anyone else, which is how I’ve always used Instagram.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are definitely social media sites, and I’m planning on not being on any of them for at least six days. Monday through Saturday should work, which is a day longer than the few other times I’ve stepped away. I might even feel good enough to take the Sunday; we’ll see.

I might still be creating content though. If inspiration hits I’m probably going to create something. What I’m not going to do is post anything during the week I’m taking off. For that matter, I’m not going to predate any marketing material for the week I’m taking off. I’ve done that in the past because, even though I was taking a break, I didn’t want anyone knowing it.

Thus, the last thing anyone will see from me will be on Sunday night, the 1st of September and the day before Labor Day, on Twitter. After that, there won’t be anything from me for a week. Not that I expect anyone to notice I’m not around because social media’s like that. There’s way too many people putting way too much stuff out for anyone to notice I’m missing.

I could’ve just disappeared without saying anything anywhere, and it would have been fine. But I’m writing this for a reason.

I’ve always said that people deserve to take a break if they feel they need one, and right now I feel I need one. I’m not really writing this for me as much as I’m writing for others who might feel compelled to constantly pump out content, worrying that if they don’t their audience will disappear forever. They may fear they won’t be able to achieve some of their business and personal goals.

It’s not always about reaching goals, although that’s important. Sometimes you need peace of mind and time to gain perspective on what it is you’re doing, what you feel you need to do, or just resting your brain for a while.

I have an idea of what I’m going to do with my downtime, but I’m not sure it’s going to turn out that way. I’m hoping I’ll relax some by reading and watching some movies. Neither of these activities are things I actually partake of on a regular basis. I’ve recorded a lot of shows on DVR, and I’ve never sat down to watch any of them.

It’s my intention to watch some of those things and erase them from the DVR so that I can set up to record more stuff that I probably won’t watch for a while. LOL It’s good to have intentions and plans, even if you don’t totally follow through on them.

Can I truly stay away? Maybe… right now I’m creating this article, and I have plans to create at least three more articles for other blogs this week and at least one video. After that I need some time to chill, to think, and to get some direction in my personal space.

It should be interesting to see if I can do at least half of what I’m hoping to do. One of things I’m hoping is that I won’t be sitting at the computer 10 to 12 hours a day during this process. I might use my laptop for writing, but that’s it. The tablet is a different story because I can watch movies on the tablet in any room in the house; that is, if Mom’s not in the same room LOL

I hope everyone’s doing well, and continues to do well. I’ll see you in two weeks… I hope! 😉