Happy Friday everyone! I wanted to chat about something that’s been sort of weighing on me lately and has caused me to make a decision to make a few changes in my life. I know a lot of people struggle with the amount of time that we spend on social media, and on our phones in general. I know I’m guilty of it in a bad way. Every time I have a free minute where I feel myself getting bored, I reach for my phone – while sitting at home while the girls are watching a kids’ show, before going to bed, while the girls are at dance, while waiting in line at the store, even when I’m sitting at a red light. It has gotten so bad, yall! The worst part is that my kids are starting to notice how much I’m on my phone. I know this, yet I can’t put it down. It shouldn’t be this way.
| photo: unsplash.com |I will mindlessly open Facebook or Instagram and start scrolling without even thinking. It’s a horrible habit that has taken over and I can’t seem to break it. It’s not like I’m even that interested in what I’m seeing. I’m frankly bored by all of it, but I can’t seem to stop myself. Does anyone else have this problem?
I’ve also found myself lacking interest in what I’m posting myself. I’m just sort of burnt out on trying to capture the perfect photo, and filter it, and come up with the perfect caption so that everything looks perfect and pretty in an effort to gain followers. I’ve lost interest in posting to stories because I ask myself why do I need to post every little thing that’s going on in my life? And I feel like as much as I try to keep my posts authentic, there is still a bit of fabrication there because of course we want to look like we’ve got it all together. And I don’t want to be this way.
I don’t know why this has all of a sudden hit me like this, but over the holidays when I took a blogging break and wasn’t posting to social media as much, I guess I got to thinking this is really nice. I kind of just want to give it all up. I am so tired of having my phone attached to me at all times. If there weren’t other conveniences that come with smart phones, then I’d seriously consider getting a flip phone (ha!)
Unplugging
I say all this to say that I’ve made the decision to “unplug.” What I mean by this is that as of tomorrow, I will be deleting the Facebook and Instagram apps from my phone. I’m not deleting my profiles, but I’m deleting the apps so that I’m not constantly tempted to open them and scroll every time I’m bored. I truly think that Satan uses social media as a way to pull us from things that really matter, and so far he’s winning. “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away” (Matt. 5:30). I don’t know for sure if social media use is a sin…I guess it depends how you use it…but when it’s distracting me from God and my family, it’s definitely not a good thing. So I’m cutting it off (not my hand, just the access!)
I’m also going to try and keep my phone out of arm’s reach more. I’ve found that when I actually put my phone out of reach, I don’t miss it. For instance, when we were on our cruise last year and I didn’t have Wi-Fi, I actually didn’t miss the scrolling and I truly enjoyed not being enslaved by it.
What does all this mean?
I will still be blogging, I’m just not sure how often. I don’t plan to give it up completely because it is something I truly enjoy. But as a blogger you’re expected to make everything look a certain way on social media, and that is the part I don’t enjoy so much. I will still have my Facebook profile that I can access on my computer, so I will still share posts on Facebook, I just will not be using Instagram for a while.
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I will probably be taking a break completely from Instagram. Not forever, but at least for a bit.
I will still be accessing Facebook from my computer, but I will mostly use this to share new blog posts and stay up to date with groups that I’m in. I’m in a few groups who use Facebook to correspond, so I will try to check these regularly. If I’m a bit slow to respond, please forgive me.
Goals
- To break my addiction to being on my phone, specifically social media.
- Spend more time with family, in the moment.
- Spend more time in God’s word.
- Read books.
- Get things done around my house that I tend to put off because I’m trying to write or because I’m distracted by social media (including decluttering and tidying up my home using the Marie Kondo method! I’m weirdly excited to get started!)
I hope that all of this makes sense. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do, and now that Audrey’s party is done, I’m finally pulling the plug. I’m considering this as sort of an experiment and I’m hoping that I will feel more free by letting go of these things that control me. Is this something you would ever consider doing yourself?
You’ve got this! I get looked at like I have 2 heads when people find out my phone isn’t attached to my hand , I’m not on Instagram, I don’t have a Twitter account, and the list goes on. I do have email (obviously) and I do have a Facebook account; however, I very rarely am on Facebook. Like you I use it to keep up with my church and a few family members. If I don’t get an email saying there’s a post then I’d miss out. I do agree with you with what you say about Satan using social media to prevent us from being the best we can be and I do feel social media is the new addiction that so many people struggle with and it’s people you wouldn’t think would have an addiction to the traditional things we think of when we think of addictions. I don’t think the social media addictions are taken near as seriously as if someone were to say their addiction was alcohol or the like. It just irks me when I see people on their phones during church or all the phones out when the family is around the table. Anyway, I’ll put my soap box away but you definitely struck a nerve with me. I will say don’t quit posting your planner spreads! I need that inspiration 🙂 Speaking of planning, my daughter says you should apply to be a part of the Happy Planner squad.
Oh you’re too sweet! That squad takes a lot of work…and lots of Instagram posts. Haha! Thank you for your support and I’m glad to hear there are others out there who feel the same way. It worries me for my kids and what technology will be like when they’re teenagers
I totally understand! I discovered that Instagram has an activity tracker where you can look up how much time you spend on it. That was eye-opening and shocking. I’m trying to really limit how much time I spend on there now.
That’s so good! Being able to see my screen time and how much time I was spending on social media was very eye opening! It’s hard to resist that temptation when it’s right there in front of you. I’d always say “I’m just going to check one thing….” then end up scrolling for way too long. Since deleting the apps from my phone I haven’t really missed them!