The lovely Miss Lizzy Marie asked me the other day about how I “unplug.” She said, “since you’re the QUEEN of social media, how do you balance that with your life? I love my blog! I love my twitter fam! I love how connected I am! But sometimes I just want to have lunch with my bff Lauren and maybe not tweet through the whole thing. Is that ok?” (yes, that’s verbatim-ish). That’s a damn good question and it’s something that I’m still learning. Probably will be learning how to balance work and life for the rest of, well, my life. However, I have learned how fundamentally important it is to establish that balance.

As you all know, I love my job. I couldn’t say it enough. But, sometimes, I don’t want to be online. I don’t want to be tweeting. I don’t want to be updating Facebook. I want to unplug myself from that whole virtual world and actually live it, ya know, in real life. That can be challenging considering the fact that I work for a social media company, therefore, spend at least 50 hours a week on social media just for work. That doesn’t include the personal time I spend on social networks. Lucky for me this is my passion, otherwise I’d be way the burned out.

One thing I’ve learned thus far in my career is that while work is incredibly important, you will lose.your.freaking.mind if you don’t take some time off and enjoy some “you” time. And that’s a universal lesson.

So, how do I balance you ask? Here are a few things I do to snap me out of my computer and into reality.

• Weekdays are always hard to take time out of the social media world. It is my job, afterall. But, I go to the gym at least three times a week. I take my gym clothes to work and head there when I get off. Besides the fact that the gym is obviously a great place to go, it provides me with even more relief that you might think. It pushes me to leave work “on time” in order to get to the gym before it gets too late. It allows me to zone out. When I’m at the gym, between Lady GaGa blasting on my headphones and my “don’t you dare talk to me/tweet at me/email me” attitude, I’m able to really unwind. Not to mention, it’s a fantastic (and healthy) way to relieve stress.
• I watch trashy TV shows. Yeah, yeah don’t judge me, but when I get home from work, most days, my brain is fried. All I want to do is crawl into bed with a bowl of cereal and watch Gossip Girl or Grey’s. As silly as it may sound, losing myself in a silly, over-dramatic TV show helps separate myself from my work when I’m at home.
• I read good books. When I’m not so tired from the day, I can actually sit and read a book for several hours. I love reading and I think that due to the Internet, books are becoming scarcer and scarcer. Much like TV (although I try to stay away from trashy novels unless I’m headed to the beach), losing myself in someone else’s story is a great divide between work and life.
• I cook. Not only is cooking rewarding for your tummy, it’s also a way to alter your mind’s focus. You can stop thinking about work when you’re worried about following a recipe and creating a delicious meal.
• I keep a journal. Yes, an “old-fashioned” diary that I actually write in with a pen. GASP! Those still exist? Yes. I have about 15 completed journals. The entries differ greatly from my blog posts, but they are just as valuable. And every once in a while, I’ll spend a couple hours going back and reading journals from the past. Writing in a physical journal is a good way to slow down your brain. If you’re like me, you write significantly slower than you type; therefore, you think about what you’re saying more carefully. Or, if you’re really like me, you lose yourself in your words and before you know it, you’ve filled out four pages.
• I light candles and take bubble baths. While this may sound stereotypically girly, it’s really relaxing. Even for you boys out there. Turn the lights off, turn the TV off, turn your cell phone off, and draw a bubble bath by candlelight. Your stress levels will instantly plummet.
• I take yoga classes. Almost every Wednesday, I go to yoga. I don’t necessarily consider this a “workout” but I do think it’s vital to my own stress management. The great part about yoga (other than the fantastic stretching) is it allows you to focus on your breathing. When you’re focusing on your breath, inhale, exhale, everything else fades away. The tranquil music and dimmed lights aren’t half bad either.
• On the weekends I like to take photos. This is therapeutic to me. I pop in my headphones and wander. Not only is this good exercise, it’s also an excuse to explore parts of San Francisco that I haven’t been to yet. Photography allows me to use a different part of my brain – the visual stimuli and creative intuition is relaxing for me and is definitely a great way to unwind and unplug.
• I spend time with friends (and I don’t always tweet about it). Spending time with people, physically, is very important with this type of career. In the social industry, we’re all about building virtual relationships and communities. But it’s equally important to maintain the physical relationships as well. So we’ll grab drinks, dinner, go for walks, shop, get our nails done – just take a step back and spend time with each other minus the social networks.

While it is, of course, important to be dedicated to working hard and establishing a strong work ethic, it should never come in conflict with maintaining your personal sanity. Of course it’s okay to do things that don’t involve Twitter or Facebook. In fact, it’s crucial. Some weeks are better than others when it comes to balance, and that’s okay, too. What’s ultimately important is that you recognize the need for this separation and you are actively trying to maintain it.

Speaking of which, I will be spending the next week on board the Carnival Splendor adventuring in Mazatlan, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. And, yes, I’ll still be tweeting for my clients 🙂