Social Media Break.
Here I am living in Colorado, going on hikes, and yet I am still preoccupied with the thought of where my phone is. If it’s across the room… “I should go get it, what if someone texted me?” A couple months ago, I put a limit on my screen time each day. I allotted myself an hour for social media throughout the whole day along with limiting all other apps during the workday. I was only able to use essential functions such as text, calls, and google maps when necessary. It felt great to be disconnected from my phone and utilizing that time for other activities such as reading or tidying up the apartment. I was even folding the dreaded laundry with the extra time I had!
I do still have the limit on social media for one hour per day but lately I have been disregarding it. I will basically snooze the alert and tap “15 more minutes”, well fast forward to 45 minutes later and I find myself still mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. Erik will sometimes ask me what I’m doing, and my response is always, “nothing”. That is simply the best answer, nothing of substance, nothing worth sharing, it’s just nothing. I enjoy social media to keep up with friends and family since we are spread out at the moment but that is not what I am utilizing it for most days. My feed is filled with strangers. “Influencers”. Silly celebrities that completely take over every ounce of my spare time.
I’m taking a break from it. Not only because I need it to create a healthy balance in my everyday life but because it is not bettering me in any way. I have taken on a hobby the last several years, acquiring house plants that I have grown to enjoy. Erik doesn’t love the randomly placed plants around our small apartment but seeing them thrive is a journey in itself. To be honest, my plants and I have a love-hate relationship. Most days it’s love but they like to test my patience at times and all of sudden nosedive to where they are on the brink of dying. In taking a break from social media, I will have more time to invest in my hobbies or even pick up old hobbies that I lost interest in.
I still spend a great amount of time walking outside, exercising daily, and enjoying other hobbies but I would like to get to a point where I am not worried about where my phone is throughout the day. It’s all consuming for people these days and lately I can feel the unconscious thought of “where is my phone?” for no reason whatsoever. If I’m wondering how my friends or family are doing, then I pick up the phone and call them. I don’t need social media to give me updates on my circle of loved ones, I would rather hear it from them and share a laugh while we’re at it. If I want to know what someone ate or how their dog is doing on a given day, I can reach out but most content I think I can do without. I’m guilty of sharing the same type of content but I have just come to realize, the addiction to social media is doing me a disservice.
This isn’t a dig on social media; I love seeing people I know get married, have kids, or even just seeing my friends out on the town enjoying their lives! I just want to get to a point where I am utilizing social media for JUST THAT. The other day, two of my close friends from college went out to dinner in Chicago and as I was scrolling through Instagram, I couldn’t help but stop dead in my tracks. They looked GORGEOUS! I messaged my friend to tell her how pretty she looked in the post. That’s what I love about social media, seeing my best girl friends living their lives and allowing me to stay connected from afar. Girls supporting girls. People loving people. Spreading positivity just takes a minute. So here it goes, a month without social media in hopes of establishing a healthy relationship with these ever-consuming sites.
If you’ve been thinking about taking a break from social media but perhaps hesitated in fear of missing out, maybe this is a gentle push to go for it. I would love to see others do it to see how it affects someone else’s day-to-day. Are we going to be more productive? Will we pick up other hobbies throughout the month that we end up falling in love with? And the biggest question, will we notice a deeper dependency on social media than we thought we would?
I haven’t decided how I will handle my blog updates. I may utilize Facebook to post new entries without indulging in scrolling any further, this is to be determined. If you want to see how the journey unfolds, subscribe below and you will get email updates through the process.
”Make as much time to dream as you do to scroll. A dream, after all, comes before every goal.”
