Recently, I had made the decision to cut myself off from various online services. I did so based on a lot of consideration about how I easily distract myself with these applications.  So I cut myself off completely.  “Cold Turkey”, so they say.

I realized that I would be making some sacrifices for this decision.  But I didn’t realize the importance or impact of those sacrifices.  Although many distractions can be bad, it can also be far too easy to overlook the value in what these distractions provide.  Cutting myself off from services like Twitter might have been a boon to my productivity, but the sudden isolation that I was thrust into, away from my tribe (network) was a real eye-opener.

As much as I rely on privacy and silence to focus on the task at hand - I equally rely on the network to keep me informed, inspired, educated, and entertained when the time is right.

Thanks to Dave McNally for the link he left in my last entry’s comments to a video from Gary Vaynerchuk that helped bring me back. Nobody has ever explained it quite in that way before.

So, what am I going to do now?  To ease back into the groove again, but with less immersion.  To allow myself privacy when I most need it, and to break out the party hat when I’m looking for a break. I’m not sure what success I will have, but I won’t really know unless I keep moving forward.  Come with me, we’ll have a great time.

While you’re at it, follow me on Twitter.