I quit social media for a month; A real-time diary of a recovering social media hoe.

Have you ever found yourself in a trance scrolling through the contents of your phone, before you know it a year has passed, your house has been repossessed, y’all homeless, grown a beard and its the year 3000. Indeed, not much has changed but we live underwater, and your great-great great granddaughter is not pretty fine, she's got a social media addiction and is being sent to rehab, amongst the druggies and alcoholics.

Okay, excuse my questionable humour and reference to Busted’s year 3000 banger (in case some of you didn’t know what the **** I was talking about above)… But Happy New Year! As we enter this sparkly new decade of 2020, the topic of social media madness in this ever evolving black hole of digital dystopia is more relevant than ever!

“It is only when we listen to our pain that we can follow it back to its source” Johann Han

Let’s time-travel back to 2018, I was approaching the end of my degree and also the beginning of a sequel in my life I like to call ‘Annabel’s sweaty and unpredictable panic attacks'. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and so is our super smart mind-body connection. Indeed, in the build up to the completely dramatic crying escapades there were many factors at play including; lack of sleep, anxiety, and an unnecessary feeling of guilt lurking on my famously positive vibe. (Symptoms that I am now aware directly correlate with OTT social media usage).

As this shit storm of anti mental wellbeing whirred around my noisy brain, I was left with a choice; I can either continue to scroll through my social media feed as long as my to-do list, or go cold- turkey and delete all my social media for a month!!!

As a fan of all the new year- new me bullshit, of course I fully committed to the second option; and this is what I discovered;

“I am actually quite a hermit”

Contrary to popular believe, us humans are a social species and not built for sitting behind a screen of solitude and facebook messenger. Interestingly, the convenience and speed of keeping in touch with loved ones via multiple social media platforms (I even have my Grandma on facebook messenger now) gives us the illusion we are being sociable. Well I’ll be damned, these surface level convos are actually keeping us away from legit face-to face interaction and long term relationships and happiness! Our Homo Sapiens DNA of strong cohesive social structures doesn’t like this, as a result we can often end up feeling subconsciously lonely and anxious. Get outside, go for those insta worthy coffee dates, embrace those hugs and tell people face-to face how much they mean to you.

“I have all the time in the world”

In the wise words of Deepak Chopra “We’re polishing our selfies- instead of getting in touch with ourselves”. As a generation, we’re so good at being busy and constantly distracted. Psychologists have even made a special term for us now called “Attention Residue”. This incredible capability to spread our attention across many channels can negatively minimise our cognitive abilities in the long term. It’s like doing an easter egg hunt, but you lost all your eggs, when you hid them in weird and hard to reach places. (Eggs representing your cognitive capabilities, and the hard to reach places representing the deep depths of the web, a great metaphor)….

Prior to my detox, I had a craving for the ability to focus on the things that really mattered, to get shit done. Once I cut all ties, I noticed how much more time I had to spend on doing things I desired; reading, yoga, studying, laughing, listening (the list of purity goes on).

“The comparison game is not a cute one”

Yes, I am guilty of posting holiday booty shots onto the gram, a self celebration of my ability to religiously do donkey kicks some may say. However, this instant gratification and dopamine hit for the cleverly angled, smoke and mirrors behind the lens can be addictive in nature, and potentially harmful in the long run. You guessed it, technology can be discreetly manipulative in exploiting psychological vulnerabilities, providing instant fulfilment through playing on our constant need for connection and social approval.

During my social media detox, I found myself re-discovering the beauty in small things and legitimate gratification for the now, without the comparison of someone else’s highlight reel through the screen of my phone.

“Just like chocolate and wine, everything great should be consumed in moderation”

I admit, social media can be a wonderful thing. A place to celebrate, inspire and share wonderful memories and thoughts, and intelligently used can advance us greatly. However, along with many joy inducing extra curricular activities in life, it’s important to be aware of when we are consuming just that little too much. Fortunately, a binge on cadburys dairy milk may leave us spotty faced, physically warning us when it’s time to stop. However, for many (including myself) we can be completely oblivious when we’ve had too much of a good thing- when the symptoms are not physically obvious (mental instead). I'm not perfect and still utilise social media most days, but ones self awareness, love, and ability to cherish the moment have definitely come a long way.

SO- Congratulations to anyone that has made it this far without getting distracted, or falling asleep from boredom. Listen up, for anyone feeling lost, a slave to their phone, or non of the above symptoms (you may have even fooled yourself with your carefully curated, perfect portrayal of life too) . I dare you to delete your social media for a month and make some incredible discoveries! A definite game changer.

Mwah. Annabel X

(Inspiration that aligned with this blog post);

-Johhan Hari- Lost Connections : A wonderful book exploring how our modern day lifestyles can effect our mental health.

-Robin Sharma - The 5am Club : A particularly inspirational, get your shit together book, highlighting the power and value of a morning routine.

-Cal Newport - How to Quit Social Media and Master your Focus- Impact Theory Podcast. : A scarily honest discussion on social media and how it impacts our health and productivity.

-Deepak Chopra: On How to Be More Present & Not be Overwhelmed with Life- On Purpose Podcast : A lovely chat between two very wise men Deepak Chopra and Jay Shetty.