My digital detox manifesto
Over the course of the past year, social media and technology have become a more pervasive area of my life as most of my daily activities have transitioned into an online format. This transition has had both positive and negative effects on my life. I find myself frequently finding inspiration and comfort from others on social media. But at the same time, the constant presence of social media and technology has inevitably made me develop a greater reliance on it, to the point where it’s become nearly impossible for me to sit down for a quiet moment without my phone. It’s become a new (and unhealthy) coping method for me when I am stressed or anxious — I turn to Instagram or Twitter to distract myself from the seemingly dire situations for temporary relief. Sometimes it is helpful, but most of the time it sends me into a rabbit hole of scrolling through posts and watching videos for hours at a time — much to the detriment of my productivity.
As I have reflected on my use of social media in the past year, I realized that I need a better and more sustainable way for coping through the pandemic. The steps I have taken so far is to delete certain social media apps from my phone, like Snapchat and Facebook. It’s not much but I do find myself having less of a tendency to be distracted by cycling through the social media apps I have on my phone. Another thing that is simple but effective is leaving my phone in a different room. It helps me to concentrate when I don’t have my phone next to me where I can see or hear the notifications. And finally, as the weather has been getting nicer, I have been trying to spend more time outside as another way to destress and unwind for a bit. These are things that I have implemented and are working on as I try to manage the time that I spend on technology and social media.