You know what habit I would love to break this year? Scrolling endlessly on my phone. I think a lot of us can relate to waking up & immediately picking up our phones & placing energy & hours scrolling through Tiktok or Instagram which is a never ending pool of content. It’s like we develop this irrational fear of missing out. When in reality all we are missing out on is the occasional photograph of someone’s brunch or a grainy sunset picture. And I’m just as guilty for falling into the trap of being sucked into this fake aspect of life. It’s frustrating to me because I have slowly adapted to a more minimalistic way of living. I’ll get rid of bags & bags of junk throughout my home. But I have yet to fully embraced one of the most crucial aspects of simple living, which is actively being present & looking up from that screen.
In A Technologically Sound World – How Can We Escape The Noise?
As the world has progressed technologically from the coming of age of dial up computers to having mini computers at our finger tips; it has become much more difficult to turn off the noise. And in some ways, technology has allowed us to grow in such positive ways. But like anything in this life, while something may be beneficial; there can be an equal amount of aspects that make it toxic. And that is why there needs to be a balancing act to the process. As a blogger for instance, without social media & the internet, my blog would be rather nonexistent to the world. I am able to express my creative talents in ways I couldn’t imagine. In the same breath, I find myself battling thoughts of imposture syndrome or comparison. And although we know the common quote, “comparison is the thief of joy,” you will still see me scrolling through someone’s highlight reel & deciding how I can make mine just as nice if not better. With the help of the minimalistic mindset, I want to let go of these feelings & truly unplug & start living with intent.
So, How Do We Break The Cycle?
I’m not saying you need to deactivate all your social media platforms & convert back to flip phones. Although, there are some instances where I miss the so called “good ol’ days”. I’d rather practice being more mindful & use these platforms as tools to help us grow. And remember, your presence on social media doesn’t define who you are as a person. I think we all tend to get caught up in the “character” we seem to play as we curate those aesthetically pleasing feeds.
Don’t Let The First Thing You See in the Morning Be Your Phone
Everything seems to be synced to our phones now a days – even our alarm clocks. And this is why it tends to become ingrained in us to turn off the alarm & immediately swipe though notifications, calls or messages. I suggest to put the phone down & take care of those essential morning tasks first. Grab a glass of water, brush your teeth & fully wake up a bit before placing your attention to these phones of ours. Most of the time, these notifications can wait at least a few minutes. Plus, if you allow yourself to wake up properly, you are able to articulate those messages better. And if you are ones to fully embrace old school ways of life, maybe consider purchasing an actual alarm clock.
Turn off Notifications
Once I turned notifications off of certain apps on my phone, I became less distracted & more productive. Apps like Instagram, Facebook or TikTok are perfect examples of social media that don’t need to constantly grab our attention. And quite honestly – I’ve learned posting on these apps regularly really takes away from our real lives. Even email apps can become distracting to me. I’ve learned to turn off the notifications and check my inbox when it works best for me.
Not Everything Needs To Be Picture Worthy
I love capturing moments especially since we have cameras at our finger tips. But I feel like there are times where we choose to do something just because it’s picture worthy. The “pictures or it didn’t happen” mindset can take away from the experience. If you are taking photos simply for the sake of your social media feed, I think you need to reevaluate your perspective. Now, I still love capturing moments in still form & video. But I do it for myself & my sentimental memories. I’m a bit old school as well & love printing photos & creating flip through albums.
Oversharing Leads To Lack of Mystery
One of my biggest pet peeves is when you are catching up with someone & you are telling them about a trip or something that has been going on in your life & they cut you off by saying, “oh yes, I already saw it on your socials.” It got me wondering if I too was getting caught up in the habit of over sharing. And I think we all are in the habit of over sharing our lives to the outside world with technology. When we have the luxury of typing out anything that is on our minds in a given moment, it’s not always good. Sometimes thoughts need to be left unsaid or kept to ourselves. Whether it’s a photo of our breakfast or a play by play of our weekend – I think we all have fallen into the trap of capturing the moments for the views, likes & attention.
Mind Beauty Simplicity 
I’m pretty careful not to overshare for that purpose. I like leaving some mystery. However, some people assume the things you do post are all that you’re doing.
Turning off notifications is a life saver.
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Great points!! Thanks for reading 😊
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And thank you for posting. 🙂 It was very well-written and helpful.
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Aww thank you so much!! 😊🫶🏻
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A gentle reminder in this noisy and chaotic situation where one needs such a warm well written words!
Sharing this post with my friends too!
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Aww thank you!! really appreciate the kind words 😊🫶🏻
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I left Twitter this year after a couple of years being on it, for my own mental health. I don’t intend to be back. I feel better for it.
Blogging and email is only my thing with the occasional Google when looking something up.
With other life changes that happened in January that I had been waiting for and then deciding Twitter no more, I am enjoy4my free time.
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oh wow! I have considered leaving Twitter, but I find it helpful with blog promotion. But I can see how it can get rid of stress. Thanks for reading!
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Yes, it helped with my blog too. But it’s been best decision I have made for my situation. I do miss the the rapport I had there with some people. But I don’t regret leaving.
I already knew some people before Twitter, so it doesn’t affect those ties. But those who I only knew via Twitter, only two have kept in touch with me via email.
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I have turned off most notifications on my phone and iPad and find I’m much better able to focus.
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that’s def a game changer! 😊
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I couldn’t agree more. I have also turned off all notifications and I try to limit my time to one hour for emails, blogs, and Facebook with my morning coffee and then one hour per day on Twitter before dinner. Any more than that would interfere too much with real life.
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That’s good habits to have! Thanks for reading!! 🥰
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This is a really great post and I agree with all of your suggestions. One of your points that hit home for me was: “Your presence on social media doesn’t define who you are as a person.” Reminding myself of this truth often has released so much pressure from my shoulders in terms of how I show up on social media. 💗
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So glad it resonated with you 🫶🏻 thanks so much for reading. 😊
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Very good post that certainly resonates with me. I’m doing better at not being on my phone all day though. I give myself some time in the morning to play a game before I’m fully awake then I do some blog reading. Facebook doesn’t get the attention I used to give it but I still check it every day. I keep up-to-date with my family through Facebook so I’ll never give it up completely. Never could get into Twitter or Instagram though maybe for the sake of my blog I should… woops! that’s going in the wrong direction LOL
Thanks for the post. It’s good to get a reminder now and then of why I don’t do alot of social media.
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Thanks for reading!! 🥰
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I love this post! Technology has made it more difficult for us to practice mindfulness and live presently. I made a rule that I wouldn’t look at my phone until after I’ve eaten breakfast and done yoga which has been working out for me.
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Thanks for reading!! 🥰
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It’s always great to be reminded to live in the moment and be present. I especially noticed a huge difference when I stopped checking my phone first thing in the morning. Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks for reading!! 🥰
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“I’d rather practice being more mindful & use these platforms as tools to help us grow. And remember, your presence on social media doesn’t define who you are as a person. I think we all tend to get caught up in the “character” we seem to play as we curate those aesthetically pleasing feeds.” – Your thoughts resonate with me!
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Thanks for reading!! 🥰🥰
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I loved this post! I’m myself culprit of scrolling Instagram right away while still in bed and I’m trying to take that habit off, and focus instead of leaving bed, having breakfast and reading while having my coffee. It wakes up the mind much better than catching some reel.
If possibile, they tend to make me even more frustrated, because when it comes to what I like to post, I want to post quality content and I’m far away from making adecent reel. But I guess that’s also part of the problem illustrated in your post!
About oversharing, it happened to me too. But me and the people in my life tends to also talk about stuff they already saw on my social media or theirs because just a picture usually deliver nothing of the experience – such as the food we ate and stuff like that
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thank you!! reading has been really helpful in not spending so much time on social media.
for the blog, I actually don’t have an Instagram anymore. I found it to be very stressful with making content and the algorithm being tricky.
thanks for sharing your thoughts & reading! 😊🫶🏻
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I’ve taken a big step back from all social media, I still use Twitter and Instagram but so much less than before. I found myself mindlessly scrolling or getting caught in the negativity that’s often at play on them. These ideas and tips are really great; I’m going to continue to overhaul my social media so I am using it more effectively but with less time being beholden to it!
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I’ve done the same. Thanks for reading! 😊🫶🏻
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I split my Instagram into two now: a new account dedicated to my writing and the old account for general life stuff. With the previous way I used my Instagram, the pressure to always have a picture of something I did was intense because I created a layout for my Instagram. Now I don’t feel the pressure to overshare, I spend an hour per week on IG if that much and overall I appreciate the new balance I’ve struck.
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that’s a good idea you split to two different accounts! I personally sometimes miss being on Instagram with other bloggers, but no longer having the pressure of posting all the time is really nice. On my personal account, I only post once a month.
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