Honestly, I didn’t know if I would succeed or not.
There were little moments when I did miss having those apps to turn to on my phone such as when we were out and Jonny would go to the loo, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs and people watch without my phone to hide in.
My morning’s have changed, I no longer waste the first hour of my day living through the updates of others. The social media ban has forced me to focus on my own life rather than comparing it to that of others.
Mental health wise I’ve noticed a definite improvement to my anxiety. I’m finding it easier to have a positive outlook on things without thinking that I need to constantly share what I’ve been up to.
I do think there are good qualities to social media, however. I’ve met some lovely people through social media, and the sewing community and the support/cheerleading therein are truly lovely by-products of it.
Instead I’ve found myself with a lot more spare time which has been amazing. There’s been more listening to music, more being creative – knitting, sewing, blogging, journalling and reading. Things that feed my soul rather than draining it. I’ve also managed to finally declutter our home and create a calm home environment.
Now I’m not going to cut social media out of my life completely. I am, however, going to manage it so that it can’t take over again. I’ll be using the iPhone screen time app to set time limits of 20 minutes per day for social media. I even got Jonny to create a pass code so that I can’t continue scrolling even if I wanted to. (I know that my terrible willpower would mean I’d just get sucked back into the scrolling without this!)
Once I’d downloaded the apps again I had a mass un-following/muting session so that I only get accounts that bring positivity into my life.
Do I feel happier? Honestly, I think I do. It’s empowering knowing that now I’m choosing when I want to access social media, rather than letting it become an all-consuming autopilot and that’s a really happy thought.
How do you manage how much time you spend on your phone? I’d love to pick up any helpful tips you’ve got!