Day 3/30: Instagram Addiction Detox
Today is June 30th and I have not been on my Instagram account since June 28th. Yesterday marked the first entire day without.
Was it hard? Yes.
My son and I have been spending the last two weeks exploring San Diego. My work schedule is part-time and super flexible, I do a couple hours in the morning and then we choose a different daily adventure, usually keeping us busy until 6–7pm each day. Yesterday, I needed to be back from our adventures by 4pm for a work call. By 5pm, I had the whole night ahead of me. 5–10pm is a long time to fill. If I was not detoxing from Instagram, I would have been mindlessly scrolling during the majority of this time.
That’s the sad truth.
This is my first week on Medium, and for the first couple days I dove in hard. Couldn’t get enough. Listened (I love that feature) to so many articles. The newness wore off and I needed a break from it last night. I’m not a huge TV watcher. Then it hit me, I’m going to have to figure out how I spend my evenings. My mind is super sharp in the morning. I’m ready to read, ready to write, ready to hit the ground running. By evening, I’m looking to chill. My energy is not as high, brain not as sharp. This was the perfect time to scroll for me.
I can see why the world is so addicted to their phones and Netflix in the evenings!
I genuinely would love to hear how people spend their evenings if they are not watching Netflix or mindlessly scrolling Social Media. I’m open to try new things and will be sharing what I choose to do right here, over the course of the next 30 days. My 30 day Instagram detox.
Some evening ideas that come to mind are: cooking and choosing to enjoy it, meditating, yoga, unforced game playing with my family, unforced TV show watching with the family, listening (I’m a terrible reader) to books on Audible (considering buying a subscription). I love taking evening walks with my husband, but the weather forecast for Phoenix next week is 115 degrees!
Maybe evenings will become a good time for writing? Maybe. Like I said, my brain is not as sharp in the evening, I’ll have to play with that.
I also have to be ok with choosing NOT to be on social media while my family chooses to be with their vices. My husband and boys love video games. For me, time spent on Instagram does not bring me joy, it’s simply not healthy for me. Just 2 days away from it and I see this fact more clearly now. I do, however, need to be respectful and honor that maybe the time my family spends with their vices DOES bring them joy and is healthy for them. I have a history of deciding something for me and forcing it on the rest of my family, I’ve learned this is not a good stragegy.
That’s the thoughts I’ve got today! More tomorrow, Kris
