Social Media savvy – You might ask how many hours I spend on sitting and browsing my social media accounts and I admit, it would consume most of my time and ends up being unproductive.
And with that notion, I have contemplated that what if I will do something to stop myself from killing most of the time in social media? On the flip side, I decided to step away from Facebook and Instagram.
To cut the chase, the experiment went well and day-by-day, I’m starting with small steps to obtain my objective.
1st Day
The planning was well executed but the thing is that upon opening my groggy eyes in the morning, my finger automatically tapped the Instagram app icon without thinking. How funny to admit that it took me a few minutes to realize that it was no longer part of my routine.
I was at a bit of a loss about what to do with the 30 or so minutes I had before I needed to get up and get ready to start my day without Facebook. So I ended up reading news article for a while, which I rarely ever do and it was pretty boring.
Thanked the heavens, I was drown with work and so I didn’t miss social media, but it was not yet the end.
2nd Day
Luckily, I found other things to do like cleaning up my room or have a little stretch to crack my bones. I clicked on the Instagram app icon again first thing in the morning, just like first day, but I remembered my experiment and quickly exited the Instagram app before it fully loads the feed. After that, I got bored again and decided to slumber for more.
3rd Day
My friend asked me if I have seen the recent post of the celebrity we both followed on Instagram and of course I hadn’t actually seen it since I’m no longer active on my social media accounts and it felt like I cheated by sneaking the IG post from her phone instead of mine. And with that, I felt like I’m out of the league. It was getting hard and I’m so tempted to open my IG app.
Then it hit me how addicted I am not just to my phone in general, but to social media to be specific. So I scrolled through Instagram because I couldn’t take it anymore. When I put down my phone, I felt guilty and stupid since I haven’t missed much of anything
4th day
Days are getting bored and I resorted myself to visit a book store to dive in a book that will fascinate my interest. Luckily enough, I have found a book and it was quite interesting and barely missed Facebook or Instagram at all.
5th Day
I was too eager to finish the book and I couldn’t stop myself from reading. I think it is better that scrolling through to my IG feed. It was fun and I couldn’t skip a second just to finish a chapter of that book. After how many hours, I decided to rest my eyes and stretch a little bit.
I missed going out so I decided to walk my dog in a park and it’s both beneficial for us.
6th Day
Reading is still keeping me completely distracted from my phone, though it does cross my mind at one point to see if the author is on Instagram but I settle for reading posts on Goodreads, which is the better option for the task at hand anyway.
7th Day
I was too busy to miss my apps, and I finished my book and surprisingly I was able to manage to avoid social media for most of the day simply because I’m so busy.
Getting off Facebook and Instagram for a week made me much more productive — but I won’t be able to keep the habit up
To say that it shocked me to learn just how addicted I am to Instagram, in particular, would be a lie. I know I’m pretty reliant on it and I don’t really see a problem with it, especially since my posting habits don’t interfere with my everyday life and I am able to pull myself away when need be.
Still, during my week off Instagram and Facebook, I was much more productive in other areas of my life when I wasn’t constantly distracting myself by picking up the phone to scroll. Taking time to do worthwhile activities like reading and taking the dog on some extra walks felt more fulfilling than scrolling, but that doesn’t mean I plan on stopping anytime soon.
