1/22
The night before last I said goodbye to my biggest mobile distractions. Concretely this means I deleted Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter from my phone and ipad. I no longer have those distractions available in my pocket. So far it feels good, but I’m not 100% sure of the impact.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to live a “healthy January”. Healthy here means more than simply diet and exercise. I’m trying to get my mental health in a good place as well. That means journaling and meditating everyday in addition to diet and exercise. I’ve also been making up rules for myself to encourage good habits. Don’t turn on the TV until 5pm on weekdays is a good example. While I might follow these rules I’m starting to find my way around them… my Ipad isn’t the TV so if I turn that on I’m still good. I know this is childish in a lot of ways, but hell it’s my made up rule for my own life. What I hadn’t done is address anything around social media. I found that in addition to turning my Ipad on to watch TV I was also using my phone a lot to just kill time with social media… it dawned on me that maybe that wasn’t good so I decided to shut it off. Just to be clear I didn’t delete accounts and still check Facebook on the computer. I also see email notifications from these things, but it’s not an app on my phone ready to be clicked on.
There are several interesting things that have happened since I deleted all of these apps. The first is that I feel disconnected from friends in a way I haven’t for a long time. I don’t know what’s going on all that much. It’s something that I need to figure out how to overcome likely through more real communication. I need to reach out to people directly. The second thing that’s happened is I’ve found myself opening my phone and looking for the apps without even thinking. This was a bit shocking… in a quiet moment I’d instinctively pick up my phone and try to go on Facebook. Holy shit it was so ingrained in me that I was accessing it without even thinking. It was automatic. While this behavior itself isn’t all that bad I think it’s representative of something else going on that I don’t like. I’ve heard about the toxicity of these things and their hooks into people’s brains, but thought I was somewhat immune or above it. I don’t post much, and I didn’t think I checked it that much. I was wrong. I am somehow now wired to pick up my phone and check these things on autopilot. It’s not good. The third thing is that I very deliberately substituted normal social media time with some better behaviors. Instead of diving right in when I wake up I meditate first thing. I lay in bed and meditate for 10 mins. I also downloaded a stoicism app that I use in the morning and night to ponder quotes and do some light journaling. I also downloaded Reuters to keep up with the news. I’m finding Brexit infinitely fascinating as I dive in more.
This is all tactical so what about the results? Well I think it’s too early to tell. However, I think it’s pretty positive. I’ve been journaling daily and this morning was one of my best sessions just thinking about ideas and the future that I’ve had in a long time. My mind was ablaze with things I wanted to write. I also finally decided to sit at Starbucks and do some writing. I’ve been thinking about doing this for months. I had no idea what to write when I sat down, but this is what’s coming out. Is this all a result of moving away from social media? While I feel disconnected more from friends I feel more connected with what I’m doing and where I’m at. I’m not browsing Facebook or wondering what someone posted on Instagram. Instead I’m looking around at the people and things going on and thinking about them. Maybe this is good. Maybe this is bad. Maybe it’s really just very silly. I don’t know, but I think my mind is in a better place after limiting social media.