Pinterest is a platform that’s been around since 2010, which is enough time for many of us to develop a pretty nice addiction to it. I mean, you can easily pin all of your different interests to a board and save them for later. You can use it to save recipes, art, house decorations, outfits you’d like to get. You can plan your dream wedding, stock up on DIY tutorials for a day when you’re consumed with boredom., You can make inspiration boards for writing, and so much more! What’s not to love about that?
The thing about this wonderful platform is that once you get the hang of pinning things here and there, saving them for later and going so far as to make them aesthetically pleasing, there’s no coming back from it. You start pinning stuff now and the next thing you know, you’ve spent the last two hours pinning away, non-stop, which is usually the first sign of your Pinterest addiction.
It’s common for social media to be addictive, but let’s admit it, having a Pinterest addiction doesn’t sound as bad as being addicted to Twitter or Facebook. After all, you end up being surrounded by constant inspiration whenever you log in. I mean, oh look! Great ideas for your next birthday party! No, wait! Here are some more DIYs to keep your makeup drawers from becoming a mess! And did someone say cute and totally affordable DIYs to end up using as decoration around your house? I don’t see a problem with that. But usually, the problem resides in the fact that you might end up wasting a sudden burst of inspiration and creativity is nothing more than just scrolling down and pinning more things on boards instead of actually working on something.
Pinterest boards might be helpful when it comes to being inspired and getting crafty, but sometimes, they end up taking too much from our time. That’s just as bad as any other addictive website. Or who knows? Maybe a Pinterest addiction is even worse since you actually feel like you’re getting something out of it. If you’re working on a book or a short story and searching for some inspiration, you might end up on Pinterest. You create a mood board for it and finding your inspiration there: is it worth finding inspiration if you end up distracted, procrastinating and without a will to put that inspiration to use? That’s the main problem. Too many ideas, and not enough action or time to do everything, which leads us back to that time consuming/wasting problem.
There are ways to cut your screen time down! First, you could try setting a usage limit on your phone with either Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) in order to lower the time you spend on your apps, but if that doesn’t work, you can always try setting up alarms as reminders to get off your phone. Second, you could try lowering your screen time by putting to use the creativity and inspiration you get from Pinterest; you can find a new hobby. It could go from painting to crafting, to learning how to play an instrument (or anything at all!) as long as you’re using your time wisely. And last but not least, you could always try closing up your social media accounts and taking a break from them, which always sounds like a good idea whenever you find yourself more invested in them than you actually should be!
Overall, Pinterest isn’t bad for you. It’s actually the complete opposite! I’m here to remind you that Pinterest is great when it comes to keeping your mind running especially when you’re feeling dry and it makes your heart happy. However, just like with everything else, it’s all fun and games until things get out of control. Having both, first and second hand experience with this infamous Pinterest addiction, I can only say that the best thing you can do about it is to accept it, to always keep in mind how much time you’re spending there, and remind yourself of what else you could actually be doing instead of aimlessly scrolling through your feed—just like with any other social media!