Living like a minimalist is terribly difficult today.  Everything wants to suck us in and works hard against such attempts.  But it’s not only the minimalists who are struggling–this is something every person is confronted with.  Since we’re a global community, living in the information age, the number of tasks that consume us seem to grow larger with every passing year.  This post is for everyone who struggles with time management.  Here is a useful tip for being in control of your schedule instead of it being in control of you.  It relates especially to media (which is the main avenue for distraction today).

GO TO THE NEWS, DON’T LET IT COME TO YOU.

Cutting out the distraction of social media and advertising becomes so much easier when you act like a master!  Facebook targets users with ads based on information you provide in your profile.  Pandora also seems to target listeners with ads based on musical preferences (not confirmed).  RSS feeds bring the news you follow into your application every day.  Twitter lets you get updates from followers on your mobile phone.

One of the easy ways to cut off distractions is to disallow as many of these media strategies as possible!  Keep information on your social media sites low.  Don’t have your mobile updates setting turned on for Twitter.  Don’t use a RSS reader; go to the particular sites/blogs when you need to.

The news is trying to get to you, advertisers are trying to get to you.  Be in control of what happens before your eyes, or else you’ll find yourself going down rabbit holes you didn’t have to go down.  This way, you’ll have more time for worship, discipleship, community, evangelism, service, mission, etc.  Media, like many other things, is a great servant but a terrible master to have.  I hope you happened upon this article intentionally, and I hope it helps accomplish disengagement from all unnecessary distractions as you pursue your life-calling.