What I’m thinking
A former Prime Minister recently banned under-16s from using social media sites. This measure, which will supposedly take effect by spring next year, was deemed necessary to protect kids online.
Now, the jury’s out on whether this is necessary or extreme. It’s generated such a buzz around the world, that even in my neck of the woods it’s being asked if minors should be banned from social media. I’m not here to discuss this, not exactly, especially when the world of under-16s is so foreign to me, me that was born an adult. It did get me thinking: could adults stay off social media? Could you?
Not permanently, although if you could, hey, power to you. Just, enough to regain a semblance of control of your screentime. I’ve woken up on a Monday morning and been brashly informed by my phone’s Digital Wellbeing app that the previous week, I had a daily screentime of [redacted to safeguard my self-esteem]. Like that wasn’t mad enough, most of it was spent on Youtube and the Gram. Ei.
Photo credit: Redbubble
So I did the wise thing. I stayed off those. Perhaps that’s a mild embellishment of the truth. I seriously limited my time on those apps. I was successful. For about three days. And then I decided the success deserved a reward. The reward? Longer time spent on Youtube and Instagram.
Sigh.
I get that social media for some is a form of escapism. A break from work. But, truth be told, most of us use it when we want to shut down our brains, consume stuff while we laze. Bite-sized videos giving us a quick dopamine hit, messing with our attention spans. Pictures and conversation threads tickling our emotions enough that we’re leaving reactions, fueling arguments, all up in the business of people we’ve never met. You’ve likely tapped open a social media app recently, from boredom, or mild curiosity, or an addiction you won’t admit, checked out a few videos, and then come away feeling worse than you did when you logged in.
So yeah, there are benefits to staying off social media, or at the very least, limiting your time on it. A reduction of feelings of anxiety and depression, possibly because you compare yourself less to the people on screen who appear to be living your dream life. More time to do other things. Sleep better. Improve your focus. Repair your attention span. Save your data, even; those things are such a data suck! But, face it. It is incredibly difficult to say you’re going to limit your social media time and actually successfully carry out said plan for more than a few days.
Unless you’re filling all that freed-up time with something that engages you. (I was going to put a wedding joke here, but that could ring unserious in this wholly serious post.)
Read
Yeah, you already knew I was going to say this. Open a book, or an ebook, and let someone else’s words carry your imagination on an adventure. If you’re looking for good book recs you can check out this inexhaustive list I made of some of my favourite reads.
Create
Humans by nature are made to make things, and not only in the procreational sense. You’ve got talents, interests. Maybe you crochet. You make videos. You garden. You cook. You paint. Watch something come alive because you put effort into it. It’s fulfilling. It’s a good use of your time. It’s development of your skill.
Learn
I recently saw a quote–Imma try to find who said it–which said, and I paraphrase, ‘it takes an hour a day for x number of years to master a skill.’ Have you been wanting to learn a language? Learn pottery? Guitar? If you shaved an hour off daily social media time and stayed consistent you could become a master. (And if you don’t, find the guy who said the quote and have words with him. I found him. It’s Earl Nightingale.)
Photo credit: AZ Quotes
Practice self-care
Go out for a walk. Pray. Write a journal entry. Call or visit a friend and pour out your heart and laugh and conjure backstories for people passing by. Let your mind have a moment’s rest. Do a crossword puzzle. Sit with God and plan your future.
To borrow a popular advertising phrase, ‘And many more.’
All the best in your quest to safeguard your mental health!
What I’m writing
Click to read ‘Keeper of Lost Things,’ a short story I wrote. Trigger warning: Mentions grief and gun violence. Tell me what you think.
What I’m watching
People are still kicking a ball around on green turf. This simple action has got the world in a chokehold. I am not ‘the world’, but I do occasionally glance at the screen and even more occasionally I emote.
Mm-hm.
What I’m hoping for
To be able to fit eight hours of sleep in three hours.
Till we meet again, God be with you. Hasta luego!
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