The Payoff of Being Anti-Social for a Month

At the beginning of December I took a stand and took the month off from networking and going to events.

I was drained.  

I normally really enjoy going to these kinds of events, so when I started to dread them — I realized it was time for a break.

As part of my anti-social plan, my husband Jay and I went to Puerto Rico, back to the resort where we got married 7 years ago for a little relaxation.

I set myself the challenge of doing absolutely no work while I was there. It was amazing to just lay on the beach and enjoy the moment!

When we returned and people asked me to meet up for tea or dinners after work this December I replied simply, “I’m sorry, I’m not available.”  

That’s all.  

No need to give a big explanation — and people just accepted it and we planned a date for January.  

It was much easier than I thought.  And I really stuck to coming home after work and relaxing or whatever else I wanted to do.

A funny thing happened from writing about my experiment though.

I started to notice a decline in the number of invitations I was receiving. I thought it was just the usual holiday hustle and bustle that was keeping others busy as well.

So I asked around and several friends cited my blog post as they reason they hadn’t invited me to this or that.  

Ha!  

When you put it out there and announce what you’re doing – people really do respect your boundaries.  

Just tell them and they’ll listen.  

I suppose I should have seen this coming.  But so often I view this blog as being separate from the ‘real world.’  So it still surprises me when people I know read it and comment in really life.  

It’s really lovely to know you are all reading.  Thank you!

So if you want to take a anti-social break for yourself – just tell people.  

Overall I think my experiment was a success. I might take more anti-social breaks in future. Although perhaps not for a whole month.

If you decide to take an anti-social break — I want to hear about it.