During a typical day at my internship this past summer, I found myself sitting on my phone checking my social media apps constantly. Some days seemed to drag on—I just needed something to entertain me! It’s so easy to click on Facebook or Instagram and get caught up on everyone’s fun lives, until you realize you’ve just wasted 20 minutes. I became frustrated with myself and immediately deleted Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. If anyone knows me, they know I love my social media (I was voted most addicted to social media in high school if that says anything), so this task was not easy at first.
As the days passed at work, I managed without digital social life. Although finding myself bored at times, the best part was being able to explore other things to keep me entertained. I read The New York Times and other news outlets more regularly, was able to be more productive at home or work and communicated more with others around me. I completely forgot that I even wanted to check up on what everyone was up to, but it was such a freeing feeling when I did realize I hadn’t wasted my days on social media.
I was able to keep this going for a few weeks. During this time I became more self-aware and also of the people I interact with. I noticed how being on our phones has become so mindless. We have five seconds of boredom so we rush to our phones to fulfill our need, rather than make conversation or interact with our friends and family around us. What do we get out of this? Nothing. It’s sad how much time is spent scrolling through Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. You’ll get more out of your time (and life) if you put your phone down or delete your apps—whatever it is you need to do to.
I was obviously unable to have all my social media apps wiped off from my phone, so I negotiated with myself. I re-downloaded everything, but took off all notifications. By all notifications I mean literally any possible notification. I love this because I’m still updated on what’s going on, but continue to spend less time on them. I can go hours or even days!
Going forward, I would love for and recommend anyone to try this. It’s refreshing to get away from everyone if you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply want to know what it’s like to live without something that nearly controls our lives. I can honestly say I’m a lot happier not seeing everything that everyone is doing and I put more of that time into my life, my happiness and myself.