Working as a Marketing Specialist in the year 2023, I spend an abundant amount of time on social media. Between keeping track of trends and keeping up with friends, I’ve found myself spending hours a day switching between Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Eight hours a day flipping back and forth at work, then going home and continuing to doom scroll. So how did that affect me?
I found the days I spent the most time logged in were the days I was the most stressed out. I was using social media as “de-stressor” but was it truly helping me de-stress, or was it just a way to disassociate? I started looking at the people around me. When they were on their phone scrolling social media, it was because they wanted a distraction. I noticed more and more people couldn’t stand being bored, and instead of sitting with their thoughts or participating in their hobbies, they were drowning out their world with a fake curated one. This made me start asking myself some hard questions:
Was scrolling through social media alleviating my stress and anxiety?
How did I feel about the amount of time I was spending consuming media?
How did my use of social media make me feel about myself?
I didn’t like my answers.
I decided to set some limits for myself. I set one-hour limits for all my social media apps and vowed outside of work to try my hardest to stay off my phone. I’m embarrassed to say how difficult this was at first. Who knew an hour flew by so quickly? After a day or two it became easier. I found that I preferred doing other things over the endless doom scroll. It was like I popped this bubble I was trapped in. I’ve been more present in my life; I’m painting again, reading, and picking up my instruments. I feel like I’m more and more in my own body the less time I spend on social media.
So now you’re asking, so why not just delete them? My answer to you would be that we just don’t live in a world that supports a media-free lifestyle anymore (especially when you use social media as part of your day job). Plus, there are undeniable benefits to using social media. At its core, social media was created to connect people. I use Facebook to find fun events near me to meet new people (I mean how can I live without knowing there is a Halloween dog parade going on 10 minutes away?), I use TikTok and Pinterest for creative inspiration, Instagram to see what my friends are up to, and LinkedIn to network professionally. At the end of the day, I believe finding a healthy balance is the key to success. If you feel like social media is affecting your mental health, try setting some boundaries with it.
Brookes Social Media Detox Tips:
- Use the screen time option to add time limits to your social media apps (I chose an hour per app.)
- Follow people that look like you (When we surround ourselves with people we want to look like instead of people that do look like us, it sets unrealistic image standards in our mind.)
- Try to keep your timeline positive (There’s a lot going on, sometimes it’s okay not to want to be consumed by it all.)
- Don’t use your phone for an hour before bed (GIVE YOUR BRAIN A BREAK)
- Try to do something else during the time you would normally spend on your phone (ex. Read, paint, start a new hobby)
Written by: Brooke Morawiec, Marketing Specialist