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| Time to put down the phone |
Today I want to talk about when I had a 24-hour break from social media, specifically on Christmas Day. Yep, it’s time to rewind back to Christmas 2017 and see how I got on.
To begin
I started the day by turning off all my social media notifications, via Settings, so that if anyone liked, commented or did anything else which would try and hanker my attention away from the festive day, I wouldn’t see it.
Another way you could do this would be by moving all your apps into a folder to hide them from view. I nearly did this, but if you've ever seen my phone you'll know that I'm a total app hoarder and would require wayyyy too much effort.
After an initial couple of hours of picking up my phone for no apparent reason and noticing myself tapping on Facebook for no apparent reason (don't worry, I swiftly closed the app before it had even loaded properly) I started to lose the habit of repeatedly checking at every opportunity.
We had the whole present opening part of Christmas Day and it was great because I just sat there and set up my new record player, and flicked through a book I'd got. I actually paid attention to presents rather than thinking 'I must set up a flatlay so I can post this on Instagram or Snapchat'.
The perils of comparison online
One of the things which I loved, and noticed especially as the day went on, it that I didn't compare my Christmas to anyone else's. I feel like comparison is unavoidable when you're spending time on social media. No matter what the occasion, you'll compare and think "she's got a nicer coat than me", "why don't I have that many friends at my birthday", "I don't want to share this because it doesn't look as good as everyone else's". Rubbish like that goes through my head too much than I'd like to admit when I'm spending time on social, so to have a day off from it was great. I had a lovely day, stuffing my face, dozing in the corner, or reminiscing about my childhood as I played The Sims 3. Time well spent, let me tell you.
I lost my phone
As the day went on, I looked at my phone less and less - at one point I actually lost it for two hours. I'd left it by my bed and forgot, but the usual panic didn't follow, as I didn't need it. When I did stumble across my phone again, I noticed just how much battery was left! Usually, I have to give my phone a boost late afternoon/early evening...
I'm inserting a little cutaway, if you will, in the post right now. As I was writing this post I lost concentration for a minute and checked Facebook. Ironic considering I'm writing about how good it feels not to do that. What was I greeted with? A severe case of FOMO. Facebook sucks and it's just killed my buzz. Boooo Facebook!
Neverending battery life
Back to the post. Usually, I have to give my phone a bit of a top up once per day, but on Christmas Day it lasted the whole time, all the way until I went to bed (which was very late thanks to Sims 3). An added perk which I didn't even consider when I first thought about having a day free of social media.
SoMe Fear (have I just created new slang or does that already exist?)
To sum it up, I found the that by the end of the day actively disliked the idea of going back onto SoMe (social media, get it? Probably won't ever say this again lol) having not been on it all day. I was living in a nice little bubble, oblivious to the world around me. It was great. I did spend more time scrolling through Buzzfeed, something I don't really do at all, to be honest. But I wanted some light filler and it made me sure I wasn't missing everything happening in the world. I also suddenly had all these hours free to spend playing Sims - that was GREAT!
And although on Boxing Day I did turn my notifications back on, I consciously spent a lot less time on social until I went back to work, and more time hanging out with my cousin who came to visit or my friends. It gave me such a clear head and I think it's why I started January on such a high. (The January blues have now kicked in though, when will it end!?)
From here on out
I'd set myself a bit of a goal after this experience to set aside one day per month where I wouldn't go on social. Unfortunately, due to my job, I'm confined to weekends, and thanks to bad planning on my part, I've run out of days I in January. What am I going to do then? Book two days in February! It's my birthday in a couple of weeks, so I think I'll avoid it as much as poss on the weekend around then, and then again towards the end of the month.
I can't bloody wait!
Have you ever had a break from social media?