These are my puppies and my nephew and niece.
Why am I posting photos of them here? (I also posted a version of this post on LinkedIn.)
Well because what you see on people’s professional feeds is never the whole story to who they really are.
You may think you know me, but you only know the parts of me that I share. And it’s important to not always be on social media.
Each of us have many dimensions to our lives – it’s important to fill our lives outside of our news feeds as much as our minds and our bank accounts.
When we talk about being more “human” in business, that’s what we mean. We are all people with families, friends, pets, grief, endless responsibilities and stresses. And we all occasionally need to step away from what we do and recenter on who we are and what we love. It helps to make us better at our jobs especially right now when there’s not a lot of separation between work life and home life.
You don’t hear me talk a lot about my personal life anymore on the blog. That’s intentional. I’m keeping certain things private now. But what I will share is that it’s really important to make time for the people in your life who are important. And while work is important it does not define you. Make time for your family, friends, significant other and yourself.
It’s okay to step away from social media from time to time. It’s a good thing to focus on YOU. It’s not a good thing to become a prisoner to your smartphone.
I realize the irony of a social media consultant talking about unplugging from social media, but I’m an advocate for using it wisely – to enhance your business and life, not to run your life.
It’s what makes the rest worthwhile. I hope you’re finding something like that for yourself this weekend.
What are your rules when it comes to social and personal time?