Over the last 3 months I started tracking a list of daily task that I would like to adhere to. One of those tasks is 1 hour of social media per day.
At first this was easy to do. I broke my Samsung S8 phone and had to switch to an old iPhone 7 we had. I decided to only install the apps I deemed essential. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter did not meet that essential criteria.
I found my concentration was up and I was able to complete more projects at work. It’s amazing what a hole day of not scroll through Facebook can do. During this time, COVID was in full swing here in Canada. Facebook felt toxic with all the fears and “crazy talk” from some of my Facebook”friends”. Instagram was filled with pictures of text?! That’s right, pictures of sentences. I thought Instagram was for photos?
Limiting social media to 1 hour a day really changed my perspective. I realized my primary news outlet was Facebook so I decided to login to my Feedly.com account and setup some good old RSS feeds but reduced my selection to my local news paper (not actually a paper anymore) and international news from the CBC. I do have a few personal blogs I follow but posts are few and far between.
Since the beginning of August, I have felt my self slipping. In the evenings, I’m scrolling past the 1 hour limit. I justify this by saying “well the days over so what does it matter”. It matters! As I write this post, my productivity has dropped, concentration has dropped. I still don’t check social media on my phone, but when I get home, there I am, scrolling through Facebook and Instagram on my tablet.
I see my son developing the same bad habits as his parents. He comes home and just wants to sit in front of a laptop and watch endless episodes of Peppa Pig. He doesn’t even like to go outside and play with his toys. I’m almost at the point where I sell everything in our back yard.
The Goal
For me, it’s time to be more present. Stop scrolling and stop wasting my time reading what crazy conspiracy theory aunt Helen is sharing on Facebook. I’m sure if this photo gets 100 likes, God will send me $1000.
What are your theory’s on social media and what its doing to you? Do you find it helpful or is getting in the way of living your life?