Some of you noticed my absence from the forum for a little while. I think there was even mention of some conspiracy theories about alter egos. But the real reason I haven’t been active is because for the past two weeks I drastically reduced my use of all but the most necessary technological functions on my phone and computer.
The rules were: I couldn’t check any social media/forums throughout the day, and instead had a 15-minute period of time to check everything after dinner, and that’s only if I had a lot of notifications piling up. Otherwise I only used my phone for calling, messaging, taking photos, listening to music on Spotify, and GPS. I limited internet browsing to email, looking up information I needed, and briefly checking the major headlines every few days.
During this time I 1) read two books, 2) was much more productive overall, 3) cooked more meals at home, and 4) slept better and kept more normal hours. I also felt less anxious in general, and like I had oodles of time every day to do everything I needed or wanted to do. I spent more time alone with my thoughts and journaling and looking at the things around me and doodling them.
I was also able to begin to reprogram my brain to appreciate the real human body because I was not being constantly bombarded by images of people that are not truthful representations of the way the majority of people actually look. Models and celebrities online almost always airbrush their skin and alter their body shape digitally and/or surgically. Even though I was aware of this, my brain still internalized the images as the new normal. But after I removed Kardashian-style bodies from view and only saw (mostly) natural bodies walking around me for two weeks, I was able to “see” people accurately again. I would say that this probably had the most remarkable effect on my everyday mood and mental health.
Most importantly, I have broken my habit of reaching for my phone during idle moments and just wasting time looking at the same things over and over again. Now I only reach for it when I have a specific goal in mind (check this, respond to that, read the news, make plans with a friend, post a photo). I realized I lost hours of productivity a day absentmindedly scrolling, and after getting those hours back, I never want to lose them again.
A few days before doing the declutter, I purged hundreds of people from my “following” lists that I no longer cared about, never cared about to begin with, or haven’t spoken to in over a year, and now I follow almost no strangers aside from some artists and writers. It has made social media feel much more intimate and positive, like a small house filled only with my friends and family and a couple of people I aspire to be like, instead of like a big noisy lobby that is crowded with photoshopped people and content that I just don’t give a shit about. So I recommend doing that, too.
Overall, I have a much better idea now of what I want out of my internet/social connectivity and I’m more aware of the ways in which it can drain time. I think all of us could benefit from “digital decluttering”, even those of you who, like me, don’t think you really have that much of a problem with your online habits. I still learned a lot about the effect it has on my life and state of mind.
I did miss looking at memes and bird videos, though. And I guess I kind of missed this dump.