You Say Pinterest, I Say Pinster
Hello, my name is Jessica and I have a problem.
 |
| pin |
No, it’s not with samoas—well it is because they’re freaking delicious, but that’s not the issue here. According to the picture above, I’ve been pinning away for the past year. When I joined Pinterest it was by invitation only (I think), but I’m guessing anyone and everyone can join at this point based by all the posts I’ve seen on Facebook recently. These days I try to only get on the board twice a day: once in the morning to see what people pinned while I slept, and then again at night to see what new and exciting things were pinned during the day that I can’t live without.
I know “can’t live without” sounds fairly sarcastic, but I’m pretty darn serious about it. These ideas are life changing and always hear myself saying “why didn’t I think of that!” I mean, really, using toilet paper rolls to keep wrapping paper together? Whoa. Mind blowing. (Okay, that last part was a bit sarcastic).
The problem I have with Pinterest (well, I actually have several serious issues, but that’s another post for a different day) is that it spurs my procrastination. For example: I just spent entirely too long reorganizing, editing, and renaming my boards. I had 33 boards and now I have 38, but at least every pin is now (almost) in its own cosy little organized board. And speaking of Pinterest procrastination, here I am writing about the darn site instead of sharing several other things with you, like how we were stranded in the middle of Italy when our car broke down on the way to Tuscany! I have three other posts half-written, because I keep getting sidetracked with projects I have to do rightthisverysecond.
To be fair, it’s not just a giant time-suck. I do make a lot of the recipes I pin, I buy things I’ve seen, I go places, I’m buying materials for crafts that I can’t even pronounce, and I’m learning how to do new things every day.
But with that said, I’m working on ways to minimize my pinning addiction. The only way I can think of doing that at the moment is by trimming down the people I follow. If I follow less people/boards I’ll have less pins to look at twice a day. Good idea? Any other thoughts? And no, deleting my account isn’t an option at the moment.
 |
| pin |
Just to clarify, I didn’t write this post in an effort to get you to all follow me on there. I mean, feel free to follow my boards, but I most likely won’t follow you back (see paragraph above); I wrote this because Pinterest is on my mind… a lot. What are your Pinterest thoughts?
One last thing: does anyone else call it Pinster? I don’t know why I call it that, but I do and sometimes I have a really hard time calling it Pinterest!
I have a pinterest acct too, but I've just never been able to get into it. I've gotten on there like twice since I've had it and I can't figure it out, which is maybe a good thing? I don't have the time or patience to spend time on there browsing, so that's my suggestion. Have a kid and your free time will be cut by 75%. Have 2 and you're at about -25% free time… =)
Oh gosh, I know the feeling. I've started trying to cut back on following people that pin the same things as other people I already follow. I also try to avoid following most brands, celebrities, etc now. If I'm considering following someone and a good chunk of their content is something I've already seen, then I don't follow them.
I've stopped pinning as much as I used to and my solution has been to start doing. The first thing I did was create a "recipe" tab on my blog and listed out all the Pinterest recipes I had pinned and want to try. I categorized them by types of foods/meals and then added links to the original recipe. I've actually made several recipes from there so far. My next step will be to do the same thing with my DIY board. Then, once I've done all the stuff I want to do from those boards I'll at least feel a little accomplished. Such a time waster, but I love it!
I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about! xxoo
I love what Monica said because it is true, kids cut your time down by far! With getting out of the house and volunteering multiple places, taking care of kids and a house I just don't have time to long on to Pinterest. If your looking for thoughts how to get off Pinterest without deleting your account…I suggest getting off the internet more because the more your on it the more you will find to delay what you "have" to do for that day.
Oh Pinterest, my love. I know what you mean when you say it is time consuming…if you let it be!
I'm kind of self-centered when it comes to Pinterest. I follow certain boards from people, but I don't follow a ton of people in general. I use my account to keep track of the things that I like and would like to make/try out/be inspired by. I am guilty of hardly ever looking at other people's pins…unless there's a slow day at work and I want to kill some time…then it's PERFECT!
So I started pinning when I was pregnant and had tons of free time, but now that baby is here…I actually pin about the same amount. I guess my secret is that I'm VERY selective about what I pin. I actually click through to the link on the pin if it catches my eye, and then I see if it's actually worth my time. 50% or more of the time I know it's not (too many ingredients in a recipe or a craft that just plain is not worth it). I also get annoyed if a pin only goes to the homepage of a site and not the actual post. No repin there! I have actually done a handful of pins since baby arrived 2 months ago because they were things I just HAD to try!