Curate Your Life, Not Your Feed
Why we should all try disconnecting from our devices.
This is a no phone zone.
I’m challenging you. Not in an Ice-Bucket-Challenge kinda way. This can’t be a one-time thing. This is more of a collective challenge for everyone who looked at Instagram one too many times today, scrolled through Facebook just because they had nothing else better to do on their commute or went down a wormhole of comments on Twitter. I work for an app, I know the #struggleisreal, as you might say. I’m more addicted to my phone here than most. But I’m challenging everyone, (including my colleagues!), to disconnect from their phones, tablets and screens for an extra hour or more every single day. I’m not asking you to give up social media or the internet. That would suck! Just offering you an easy excuse for spending a little extra time on yourself, your thoughts and the people that matter to you most.
This has all stemmed from me being constantly annoyed at seeing the same algorithmically-generated content over and over and over. I want to spend more time learning new things, bettering myself and escaping the social echo-chamber I find myself in everyday. It’s not so hard, once you get into the rhythm of disconnecting either. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to do it myself. I’ve spent more time seeing friends, saying yes to more things, and generally having a bloody nice time. I even helped my boyfriend do some gardening. What else would I be doing otherwise?
As Editor of an events app, I can safely say that the past two years spent bent over my iPhone have been testing on my neck (I’ve developed a lump…) and nerves. The nerves come from a sort of FOMO-induced stress I put upon myself after looking at a dozen interesting events every hour. But the app has also made me realise the importance of looking up every once in awhile. The enjoyment of staring out my office window aimlessly (don’t tell my manager, I’ve usually just got writer’s block…) and why meeting my friends after work for a large dry white wine, phone neatly tucked away in my bag, makes me sleep soundly at night. It’s a short break in the habit. And it sounds cheesey as hell but it feels good.
Sifting through hundreds of thousands of the UK’s events has also made me understand why, now more than ever, it’s absolutely crucial we all disconnect and explore more of our surroundings. London is bursting to the rafter with people, putting on some of the craziest and coolest events. On average, there are over 6,842 events entering our app every day. And there’s so many ways to feel like you’ve experienced them online already. Part of my job is to bring offline events to life online. But live streams and post-event videos can only offer so much. They don’t give you stories to tell in the pub and will never give you a lasting memory. When was the last time you reminisced about that time you liked a sponsored ad on Facebook? Never. So, honestly, ask yourself right now, “what’s my excuse for not trying out more of this stuff?”
New to the city? Even more reason to experiment and meet new people! No cash? The best things in life really are free. Don’t know where to start? I mean do any of us, really? Too tired? You’re gonna be older tomorrow and you’ll probably sleep better after trying something new.
This whole challenge starts with you looking at how you spend your time. If it’s perfecting that selfie and getting more followers, this probably isn’t the challenge for you.If it’s generally about kicking the browsing habit (shopping apps included!!!) then join me. Welcome to my no phone zone.
