No social media — I DID IT! And you can do it too!
As weird and impossible as this might seem, I am pretty sure many of us have already forgotten about it! While this pandemic has got us going on our nerves at times, it has helped us as much to connect with our true selves. The past year to the day has been like an enormous shift and awakening for everyone. Crimes, Recession, Downfall of the economy, people lost their loved ones, and all other kinds of things going on (the list doesn’t end). We can say the world is experiencing a cleansing. While there are all sorts of unfortunate, unpleasant, and distressing incidences happening around us, the best way to show up is by working on our adaptability. People are using these times as an opportunity to tweak and fine-tune themselves. To add a little bit to this, I decided to carry out a little experiment and observe and record what comes out. I have divided the recordings into three slots: Morning, Noon to Evening, and Night.
Waking up
I am used to waking up by 6 A.M at the most. But today, I woke up feeling a bit down and demotivated. So the first thing I did was resist the temptation to scroll through social media and YouTube to occupy the emptiness that caused the down-feeling (we all do it at times, don’t we? Even before going to bed!). And the second step, I put my phone away. It seems a bit difficult because we are not used to it (are we?). Exclude private chat apps. They presumably do not have the same negative- effects as social media does and, it is practical for most of us.
8 A.M — 11 A.M (Morning Phase)
Even if I wake up early, I usually start my day by 8 A.M. and wind up by 7 P.M. My morning routine till 8 includes meditation, affirmations, or just taking a little walk in nature. By 8, I am ready to take over!
10:02 A.M: Four hours since the phone’s been away. I logged out of all the social media accounts and switched off the internet connection of my phone. The temptation is always there. Numerous thoughts are going around.
“Oh, this person/they must have posted.”
“Let me just have a quick look what’s going on in the group.”
“I might be having a text from someone.”
and all those check-ins we do every day out of habit. We do that check-in and end up scrolling through the feed and suggestions for hours.
Afternoon Update ( up to 2 P.M): I felt very detached from the unnecessary activities, although I would want to check up once. But the temptation has calmed down. The feeling is there but very toned down. There were instances I almost picked up the phone but could successfully put it away. I kept working at my desk. The very first thing that I realized was there were very few irrelevant and unnecessary thoughts. I could focus more. My mind was at peace (much more than always). And we all know the importance our thoughts hold in shaping our reality.
Evening Update ( up to 7 P.M):
All in all, till now, I can say this is probably the most peaceful evening I’ve had till the day. My thoughts feel a lot more sorted. I feel less overwhelmed, very calm, less distracted, and optimistic.
Now that I have recorded all these readings, we can conclude with this long day. Though the signs might seem quite exaggerated just for a day, keeping distance from social media without having to sacrifice it is feasible. Especially at times like these. My activity on social media had reached its peak count — 3 hours a day! And today, I could reduce it to a whopping zero. And lastly, I had extra time left at my hand, which I utilized for affirmations and spending some time in nature.
What I learned:
- This practice helps re-affirm the knowing that we are the ones who are in total control of our thoughts and how we choose to utilize and invest our time and efforts.
- We scroll through the feeds, unaware that every touch and every scroll sub-consciously registers and re-affirms the information and energies contained in the page. It often manifests as low self-esteem, self-doubts, feeling as we are not enough. For example, you are scrolling through the Instagram feed and, you see a picture of a model or an idol or say your friend, and the first thought that comes to your mind is “She/He is so attractive!”. While this sounds innocent and harmless (and pretty normal), we often start to feel uncomfortable in our skin and body. They keep posting, showing off and, it keeps building inside. We start having unhealthy projections about ourselves, the way we look and feel. In short, we start comparing ourselves with someone who may not even be the way they appear on the screen! True, isn’t it?
- This point is directly related to the previous one. We also consciously feed our minds with unnecessary and false information. The type of content we expose ourselves also matters equally. It’s a natural human tendency to imitate and try to be like something or someone we look up to or adore. But when this turns into Obsession (this one word is enough to contain all the unhealthy habits), we start losing our true selves. We pull up masks to hide our flaws. Instead of accepting the way we are and working towards just being the Authentic and True Self, we start wearing masks that look like others. And we are very well aware of the consequences, aren’t we? To summarize, Self Deception and False Sense of Identity.
- To conclude, we often end up taking responsibility for others’ problems. We unknowingly get ourselves involved in the dramas (often, things that we have absolutely nothing to do with, place where we don’t belong). We lose our sense and ability to process our words before we speak them, leading to unhealthy habits of talking unnecessarily, passing unnecessary statements at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Now, I am not here to preach what you should do and what not to do. We all are responsible for everything that happens with us, everything we do and create. Nothing ever happens to us. We bring it on by ourselves. The only point is,
We are responsible for ourselves and our lives.
And lastly, this practice proves to be a great tool when reprogramming our subconscious minds. It helps let go of all the unhealthy projections, expectations, wantings, and needs. Once we realize how much we already have rather than what we do not have, we see that most of the things we wanted just because many people have them are no longer required. So this could prove to be a fortune-saving scheme! (Consumer mentality)
Summarizing, No! you do not have to quit social media. Choose and invest wisely.
