It has been over a month since I
disconnected. How did it go? Well for the first bit, it was quite easy. I would
go to open up Instagram and I had to sign in. That small extra step was enough
to remind me to not look. I didn't miss it one bit. I did however fill my extra
time with other distractions such as blogs, newspaper articles and TV. Oh how I
have realized that TV is my nemesis... (more on that later)
I was
still posting pictures to Insta when I feel like it, and I would do some
limited scrolling, but I was much more aware of the time that I spent looking
at other people's lives.
Then
I went away for 5 days with no cell coverage. And that was a whole new
experience. I found myself worrying about work, my mind wandering through
hypothetical scenarios, each time increasing in intensity. The mere fact that I
could not connect increased my anxiety. Most of it was work related, but it
definitely spilled over to my personal connections.
 |
| Via Tech Vibes |
Since then I've maintained a reasonable connectivity. When I'm
offline most of the day I carve out a few set time periods to catch up on the
happenings. Recently (in the last 48 hours) I've noticed some mindless
scrolling starting to enter my life, but I am recognizing this and can make
adjustments. (It seems that I scroll more when I am tired as a procrastination
tool... Which doesn't make a lot of sense!)
But there have been a few changes I've noticed over the past
month:
- Overall:
Limiting social media has really freed up some time and brain capacity and
has me focusing on myself and my life instead of avoiding my life by
looking at other people's lives
- The
house: I have been more obsessed with keeping my house clean. While I
wouldn't say my house is now spotless, I have been noticing the mess -
which is the first step right? I've also been taking action on some of the
lease loved items on my to do lists (you know - the ones that just keep on
getting transferred to new to do lists?)
- Mentally:
I feel like I've freed up a lot of mental processing space. Post scroll I
used to feel drained of energy and mentally exhausted. Now my breaks from
work consist of reading an article, getting something on my to do list
done or even going for a walk. These are contributing to a feeling
of mental clarity and focus, which I hope is helping my efficiency.
- Decision
Making: I struggle with making decisions; I am a maximizer, so I am
constantly in search of the 'best' option. And social media allows you to
see what other people have done when presented with similar decision
points. The options are endless really, and can send me into a spiraling
alternatives search. But being removed from the options, and with
increased clarity and focus (see point 4) I've been able to make some key
decisions that I've been putting off for months and months! It feels empowering;
I am motivated to make more decisions, which is a wonderful positive
feedback loop!
- My
life: This exercise has really freed up some time and brain capacity
(and self-pity to be honest) to allow me to focus on what really matters.
When on the 5 days without cell service - I did worry about life back at
the office, but I had several free hours a day to read/think. I had not
taken a step back from my life and thought about it in a more holistic way
in a while. Spending more than a few fleeting moments reviewing things
allowed me to work through some thoughts and concepts that were previously
only partly formed.
- Missing
Events: I've definitely missed friends and family's birthdays and have
felt bad about it. I've also missed events in my neighbourhood since I am
no longer reminded on Saturday morning about a specific event around town.
This has been both a blessing and a curse. I like not being distracted
from what I am doing - but I also enjoy those random events.
- Substitute
Distractions: I'd like to say that with my new found time, I've spent it
doing productive value driven activities like additional activities, more
reading, getting to do lists done, etc. but I have found that I have been
substituting other distractions in its place. Namely TV (more on that
later). I realize that I need downtime every day, but I just haven't
figured out what non-social media, non-TV downtime is...
- Prioritized
Scroll: Wow, one really figures out what is important when faced with only
15 minutes to look through several days of social media. I do the rapid
scroll looking for names of friends and family to look at their pictures.
Seeing my cousin's kids in Instagram is way better than someone's stylized
and perfectly quoted morning coffee. That being said - I haven't deleted
those coffee accounts from my Instagram because they are a great resource
when I'm trying to put together a Saturday brunch, but seeing them as a
resource and not a required daily image is refreshing!
- Positivity:
I have some sort of jump in my step. Maybe because I feel like I have a
little secret versus all the people walking around staring at their phones,
or maybe it’s because I feel like I can get more done, (I do get more
done!) but I'm not sure. But I do feel generally more positive about life! (Yay!)
Speaking of which - I tried to find an image of unplugging in the
forest (because I associate nature with unplugging) and this came up - wooden
megaphones in the forest. How fun would it be to come across these, especially
if there was a string quartet in one of them!
 |
| This is the greatest idea! Estonia is on to something! |
No comments:
Post a Comment