Social Media Detox
Creative Struggles
By Staff Writer Craig Atkinson
Mindlessly scrolling on social media and binge watching YouTube has become part of my daily routine. Truthfully, this has been going on for a long time, and I shudder to think how many hours I have let pass by. I am addicted to social media. I know I’m not the only one. The dopamine hit we get from social media isn’t just from seeing the interactions with our posts, but also the anticipation of what might be. Therefore, just the act of opening the app adds to the addiction. The attachment to the addiction messes with my creativity, as the excessive use leads to faster burnout. It does not allow enough time for thinking, relaxing, and/or reflection.
I absolutely dislike this about myself, and have been wanting to gain some control of it, but I haven’t tried much. App time limits worked for a while, but they were too easy to ignore. My self-made rules of no phone on trains, or first hour of the morning, are rules I’ve been surprisingly able to stick to. It’s all the other hours in the day I struggle with.
In the beginning it was a mixture of entertainment and light procrastination that evolved into something negatively affecting my mental health. From what I have found I’m an average user, but some days, I don’t see how it would be possible to use it more than I have that day.
Like I said, I’ve been wanting to do something about this, but felt at a loss. Than I read a blog post by Austin Kleon, where he writes about a book he just read (Make Your Art Matter What, by Beth Pickens), talking about using the concept of Shabbat in relation to taking a 24 hour period every week to abstain from something.
This concept really appealed to me, as it felt like a manageable amount of time, unlike those 30 day challenges that pop up every now and then. I think some of these are great, however 30 days is a long time, and there are parts of social media that I enjoy. Taking a month off would feel more like running away. My aim is to control my phone use. So I decided to give the 24 hour break a try.
I didn’t tell anyone, or post about it, as I thought that would defeat the purpose. This 24 hour sabbatical was for me, for my mental health. I kept notes throughout the day to understand my thoughts and see in hindsight how ridiculous they might get. But before we begin, during the day of doing it I realized that once wasn’t going to be enough, the test was if I could do it a second time, or even keep it up weekly, so I started to do that.
Here are my notes as they played out.
Day 1:
I’m trying to have a day off the internet. So far I’ve lasted about 3 hours. I did use Google twice, but I should have said, I’m trying to have a day off social media.
I made two videos of zine reviews, and I haven’t posted them yet, however I want to.
I have the urge to post them, but I’m fighting it. I know if I post them, I would also want to check how they were doing a short time after, and see if there are any comments, so I’m not going to.
My challenge is to do 24 hours.
Of course it’s weird that I am struggling with the thought of 24 hours, but it also isn’t. This is the current state of my relationship with my phone and social media. I’m going to keep a notepad and pen with me. I can feel it’s much more mental than a physical addiction.
I still want to post those videos, but it doesn’t matter, they are recorded. It doesn’t matter if I post them today or tomorrow. There might be some messages waiting for me to reply to.
I’m not sure if I should use email.
Even though I didn’t write this morning and instead read for an hour, I feel much quieter in the mind than on a regular day.
It’s 8:50 a.m. and I still want to go on. I’m not really sure why or what I’ll do on there.
It’s now two in the afternoon, and I haven’t been on social media once yet. Of course I know that it’s alright to, and that zero is silly, but one day off will be the best thing for me. Really I need longer.
Maybe I should make a list of the things I want to do on there first, then jump on and do only those things. That would be a very healthy thing to do.
What do I want to do on there:
- Post both videos.
- Reply to any messages.
- See if the latest ZNN article is up.
- Check about the reading buddy.
- Check address on Twitter for zine mail I want to send out.
4:20 I have urges to pick up the phone, but not with the intention of doing that list, but just for the habit of it.
8:30 Well it’s the end of the day and I’ve gone all day without checking social media. I feel more relaxed and I feel happier today. My mind feels quiet. I will probably notice it more tomorrow when I jump back on.
Here I am the next day, I made it! How did I sleep? I slept well. I’m one of those heavy sleepers who regularly sleeps well. I did wake up when my alarm went off thinking about social media, but that’s because of this challenge, and it was at the forefront of my mind. These are my notes from the 24 hour period. Let’s look at some things we can quantify.
In total, I only used the phone for about 1 hour. My son used my phone during lunch for 36 minutes watching YouTube, and I used the camera for 21 minutes making review videos. I also Googled some information for something I was writing for work.
While preparing and cooking dinner I listened to some podcasts, but since it’s just listening, there is no screen time listed. Except for a few minutes to download some new ones. During the day I read 80 pages of East of Eden. Which I was really happy with, because my reading has been down for most of this year.
One more thing happened. Most afternoons around 3 pm I get sleepy. But yesterday I didn’t. This surprised me considering I’d been reading throughout the day, but my eyes didn’t get tired. I wonder if that’s got anything to do with the phone screen.
By the afternoon I began to feel more focused and present. My mind wasn’t thinking about stuff that I could be doing, but content to make a note of things I wanted to do and was at peace with getting to them at a later date. This is probably the one of the most interesting things I discovered. I wouldn’t go to the supermarket to buy one item, then 30 minutes later go back to buy one more item, would I?
My only cheat code for this would be to begin in the morning. What you do in the morning will set the pattern for the day. Start your morning with reading, and you’ll read throughout the day. However, start your morning on your phone, and you’ll be on that all day. Other than that, it’s just will power, and since this first time I have continued to have a (24 hour) social media detox for three consecutive weeks. I aim to do this regularly every week now.
However, I slipped up and mindlessly opened the app out of habit a few times, only to close it before my brain could catch up with my actions. In addition, only taking a break from social media and not my entire phone means that I’m still able to use my email and messages that I need for my private and business life, which happens to be the ones I don’t struggle with. Maybe that says everything.
