And so it's March and this blogpost is a month late. But since it's been brewing in my head for the last 40 days or so, I'm making it anyway. I mean, it's my blog anyway, you're not the boss of me!

This New Year I made zero resolutions. I probably should have because maybe that would have given me a bit more direction than I am currently having in my life decisions, but that's another conversation entirely. However, I did begin the year with a great cleansing act:

I deactivated my Facebook page.

Now, I could go on and on about how irritating and time consuming Facebook is and many other reasons why I put such idea into practice, but what I want in this post is to show you the many great things we can do with our lives without Facebook and remind myself of how to consume my own personal time much better. So here it is, some of the things I did with my time without Facebook:

1. Read

I used to be an avid reader when I was younger. Soon enough, though, I found out about the internet and social medias and life was never the same again. My 20 books a year count became more and more 5, 4, 3... 1 book a year. This is a fact about me that I cry to at night. Now, as a half-grown up, doing college and an internship, time for books are that much more rare and when I have any, it's spent on boring huge ass Law school books. Getting rid of Facebook gave me the extra time to spend with what I had left to the side for so long: reading for actual FUN. Isn't that a lovely concept?

2. Visit friends - and actually pay attention to them

Whilst being without Facebook, I went to a number of social events which would have been priorly spent taking pictures or checking updates on my phone. In these, however, I only held on to my phone in case my parents gave me a call asking if I was still alive. And I had a humongous amount of fun. From being thrown into a pool to deep meaningful late night conversations to making brigadeiro and watching great movies on a night in, I was there at all times. (Well, maybe a little less when it was 4 a.m. and I was getting overly sleepy).

3. Explore your qualities (and inequalities)

I have never been a great artist or any bit talented in that aspect. But I did always love painting, drawing and creating in general. And just because you're not great at something doesn't mean you should never do it or that it can't make you happy. So I ended up picking some colored pencils and notebooks and doodling a bit. It was time that freakishly flew by. I can't even explain it. I guess I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't notice it at all. 

4. Blog

So, yes, that is kind of cheating. Instead of tiny posts, I started making less frequent longer posts. Instead of following friends, I now follow great inspiring and entertaining bloggers and vloggers. However, I still think this is a fair trade. You see, on a Facebook post or comment there's little to no thought at all behind it and your "friends" many many times aren't even people you enjoy or care about, which end up summing up an empty and negative online experience. On the other side, blogging takes time, patience and lots of thought (especially if you want to do something nice, which is my case - though maybe it doesn't show, oops). It forces you to use day-to-day experiences as a basis of creativity for writing and photographing. And you only really follow and read the things you actually care about and enjoy which takes out a lot of the frustration and negativity towards people. That combination can only make you happier, really. 

I love blogging, can you see it yet?

5. Practice

Maybe you're like me and you play an instrument. Maybe you're an athlete. Maybe you have a presentation to do or a job interview to go to. Whatever it is, you now have extra time to practice them. Enjoy. Facebook and the 500 self centered posts a day would never make you grow as much as investing your time in bettering your skills.

6. Study

I have no clue how much time of studying I lose over Facebook, but I'm 100% sure it's a hell of a lot! Plus, I don't think I need to go on about how studying is good and important, right? Yeah, let's just do it, peeps.

7. Think

Over the course of the 25 days I spent without Facebook, thinking was my most prominent activity. Sure, it was mostly thinking about my ex-boyfriend and that's not really healthy thinking, but some of it was also thinking about what to do with my life, what I want to become, where I want to go and how I want to be and if I was doing what I needed to get there. Answer: no, I'm not. But I'm trying to change that and hopefully I'll blog about it soon enough. Keep your fingers crossed!! Anyways, I invite you to turn off your social media accounts and evaluate your life, goals and the path you need to cross to get there. If you do, mind sharing? I'd love some inspiration.