Photography by https://www.sianblogs.co.uk
Let's be honest, who doesn't spend far too much time just endlessly scrolling through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or whatever social media platform you may be on? Because I know I do. Twitter and Facebook are my weakness. I find myself "Just checking" them and before I know it, I've been sitting there for hours scrolling.
It's not just the procrastination that I don't like about them, it's the amount of information and opinions and thoughts that I find myself soaking up every time I open the app. There's always a controversial opinion, a news story, a horror story, a bit of drama, a bitchy tweet - and I find them getting under my skin. Don't get me wrong, I love that we have a platform to be able to express ourselves and keep up to date with what's going on in the world. However, sometimes spending SO much time soaking it all up can really mess with me. I find myself getting angry about stupid stuff and becoming bitchy about certain things, and I don't like it.
So I decided that it was time to use Twitter and Facebook how I used to, on my laptop only. Having them on my phone was doing me no good, so I deleted the apps. I didn't delete Instagram as I don't really spend as much time on there and I don't find myself constantly checking it.
I deleted the apps on a Sunday and reinstalled Twitter on Monday. I felt lost without it, what do I check when I wake up? Where do I tweet about how tired I am? Or how annoying the cat is being? WHAT DO I DO? So I reinstalled it.
Then I got to work and opened it up to see Casey Neistat had uploaded a video called "Goodbye Social Media" - What a coincidence. So I watched it and realised that he made some very valid points and reminded me why I deleted them in the first place. So I deleted Twitter (and Facebook) again and haven't reinstalled it since.
What a difference it has made to my life. I found myself going to check it or tweet random things. I would get home from work in the evening and sit down, unlock my phone and go to open Twitter. Then I'd remember I don't have it anymore and I'd get up and go do what I actually wanted to do rather than sitting downstairs scrolling through Twitter thinking "One last scroll and I'll go schedule that blog post" to then eventually spend the entire evening downstairs and not actually move from the spot I sat in as soon as I got home.
I found myself getting more stuff done, even if it's just watching the series or film I wanted to watch and actually fully focusing on it rather than it being background noise while I scroll through Twitter. My mind feels clearer which is making writing posts easier. Right now It's 7.45am on a Wednesday - Usually, I'd be scrolling through Twitter until I had to leave for work at 8am. But not having the app means I found something a bit more productive to do.
I still use Twitter, it's just not at my fingertips anymore. I found the scrolling addictive, whereas using Twitter and Facebook on my laptop isn't as satisfying to just scroll through. Which stops me from spending hours doing so. Plus I don't find myself getting angry at pointless stuff. I'm no longer absorbing so much information that I feel overwhelmed. It's made a huge difference in how I feel and how my day goes. I should've done it before.
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