I’ve been given a gift over the next 5 weeks from my employer Adobe. Its not money, a promotion, or a traditional gift you might think of, but rather the gift of time. After 5 years of working at Adobe each employee is offered a 4 week sabbatical. A time to unwind, relax, and focus on the true things outside of work that bring us joy. The office also has a customary week shutdown during the week of 4th of July, so that gives me 5 weeks to spend with my family.

I have a lot of aspirations during those 5 weeks. I am going to be starting on writing a book with a friend that I have always wanted to do. My family and I will do doing various travels around our homestate and others, ill try and sleep in a bit (if my kids allow), do a lot of golf and fishing, and ill be shutting down use of social media.

Social media is my life literally. I don’t live for it, but spend 40-50 hrs a week engulfed in it. As the Head of Social Analytics at a Fortune 500 company, you can imagine the amount of people that mention our brand and products on a daily basis. My role is brand monitoring of those mentions and using the mentions as a research vehicle for improving our business. Along with that, I use my Twitter and LinkedIn profiles as a way to connect individually with others, to engage about emerging tech topics, promote new Adobe tech and working here, and chat about the NBA season.

Those two combined create for a lot of time engaged with social media. I have 3 little boys and a wife that I get to spend every minute of the next 5 weeks with and to make sure I maximize the time I have with them I am going on a social media fast. I was inspired to do so by the LDS church urging their youth to go on a 7 day fast. I'll miss some great friends during the time, but will relish in being a little more disconnected than usual.

No email alerts, no news breakers, no social feeds. A true vacation where my family is one hundred percent my focus. Miles Davis once said “Time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.” My kids are only little once and I am going to use this time I have, thanks to my awesome employer, to make it memorable.

See you in July!