My social media detox

Goodbye Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Snapchat…

January 1st 2019 came and I had enough. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues and being active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on, was having a really bad impact on me as I was constantly surrounded by negativity. I would feel envious towards other peoples lives, wishing I could have what they have. I saw a fitness-fanatic on Instagram say “Guys, don’t be naughty over Christmas otherwise you won’t reach your goal!” W-H-A-T? If I want to indulge in cheese boards, copious amounts of Quality Streets and a few-too-many glasses of wine, then who are you to tell me otherwise?

Not only that but, when you’re constantly on your phone – checking to see what everyone else is doing in their lives, you forget to live your own. This has become ‘normal’ and it’s really not okay. I’ve grown up with the evolution of social media. It started with Bebo & MSN (the good, old days) and as I went into secondary school, it was Facebook and then Twitter and then Instagram and somehow, along the way, I feel like I’ve been sucked into this black hole and my life is just a virtual reality, living through these social media accounts. 

I cannot express how refreshed I feel. I’ve had a social media detox; like I’ve been on some sort of retreat when really, I’m just being present, in the moment, like I should be. I’ve been reading so much more, I concentrate so much better, I’ve watched more movies, I’ve been to the gym more, I’ve gone out for more walks, I’ve been apart of in-depth conversations that are actually meaningful. I check the News, not Twitter. I look in the mirror and I’m not thinking “Oh but she’s got abs and I… definitely do not”, I’m thinking that I’m a living, breathing human being that works hard, is motivated, is smart and is loving – I appreciate myself.

Most importantly for me, this time has given me the freedom and time to reflect on something that I’ve been trying to move on from. I’ve given myself the time to actually be at peace and let go of so much negativity.  I had the pleasure of delving into my new book, “Everything I know about love”, (definitely give this a read if you want to hear about awkward dates and chatting to cringe boys on MSN!) which I never would’ve made the time for originally!

I thought it would be so much harder than this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, when I heard that Beyonce was in Target, I jumped straight onto Google to see any updates (yes, Beyonce really is my queen and yes, I really am that lame) and I have found it hard to get involved in conversations about the celeb gossip because I’ve just not got the faintest idea what is going on, but isn’t this a good thing? I’ve not been able to get involved in pointless gossip because I’m too busy living my own life… seems pretty good to me!

Something that did surprise me a little bit is how, when something good or funny happened, I wanted to share it with the world. I got a new job at the start of this year but barely anyone knows because I’ve only told the people that I actually talk to – madness. I was so used to treating Twitter like a diary, that if anything significant happened to me, my mind automatically thought “tweet this”. Is it for validation? Is it to make me look like I’m living my best life? Is it to distract others from seeing that I’m actually a bit of a mess? Yeah, it’s probably all of them actually but that’s a little sad, don’t you think?

With my new spare time, I’ve created something that I really love; a bullet journal. For anyone that loves being artistic and organised, please please start your own bullet journal! It’s simply a journal, that is completely empty and you get to decide how it’s formatted, what information goes in and how you use it. It’s a really great way to track your week, track your income, track how often you go to the gym, if you want to write down memories or any ideas that spring to your mind – it really is all down to you. There are no limits. Have a look below at how I have set up my bullet journal for February… I’m just a beginner and I’m not artistic at all, but I’m hoping it’ll keep me organised for 2019 and will be a great memory that I look back on in years to come!

You think you need social media but from what I’ve learnt, life is so much better when you’re not on it. I will go back on it as I do like to see what friends/family are up to when I live so far away but I definitely won’t be so reliant on it. I will still post a picture of my day out to somewhere random or a cute picture of me and Kenny because I enjoy that but from now on, I will definitely stay focused on my life without the pressure of social media and stay focused on being in the moment rather than getting distracted by people’s online lives that are exaggerated.

Reflecting on the past month, I almost feel embarrassed about how active I was on social media. To be that immersed into social media, something that isn’t even real life, that I can’t even make time to finish a book or create a journal? How has this become the way that we live? It sounds ridiculous but I’ve learn’t a lot about society, the world we live in and how our minds just seem to soak it all in and just accept that this is what life is supposed to be like…

Social media has perks but just take a break from it all every so often. Nobody is going to miss seeing a picture of what you’re having for dinner on a Tuesday night and you’re certainly not going to miss someone tweeting about how awful their life is because McDonalds’ ice cream machine is broken. Just be a little more present and I promise you won’t regret it.