The other day, I was trying to make room on my home screen for an app—One Bus Away needed better placement—and so I decided to move Facebook off the home screen. It was inadvertently the smartest thing I've done this month. It turns out, when Facebook isn't on the home screen, I never think of Facebook. When I don't think of Facebook, I'm not checking Facebook every time I get bored while standing in line or waiting for the bus. When I don't check Facebook, I'm not continually bombarded with photographs of food or misquotes of something Albert Einstein said. I'm not unconsciously trying to figure out what that vague, passive-aggressive status update means. I'm not occupying my mind with Facebook junk.

The thing is, moving Facebook off my home screen actually made me happier in a small way. I really enjoyed not thinking about Facebook every time I was looking for a momentary distraction. I'm not saying this as a Luddite. I still love Twitter; I find it useful and I enjoy the pure timeline of it. I'll check Facebook on my desktop on a sanely regular basis to check in on my good friends who are scattered across the country. But not seeing that goddamned blue square with the F in it every time I turned my phone on was a real pleasure. And then, this happened:

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You guys, the moral of the story is that you should always listen to Anna Minard. I deleted my Facebook app yesterday, and I'm so much happier, knowing that Facebook isn't anywhere on my phone. I encourage you to give it a try. Give it a week. You can always download the app again if you find you miss it. It's free and easy to find. It'll still be there, I promise. You might even wind up feeling a little bit better without it.