Last year I found myself scrolling a lot. I was trolling through social media to find connections and to constantly check on everything. Completely wasting a lot of time.
Finally, I got to the point where I had to stop watching the daily news reports, I had to stop listening to people who were always speaking from the negative.
I have always tried to look at situations from the positive. Focusing on the negative - always seems to bring more negative.
Less scrolling - more living
I had to consciously make a choice as to how I was going to deal with social media and my news consumption.
Here is a list of steps that I took:
I turned off notifications. The red dot gets me every time. If I see it, I have to make it disappear. So I went through my notifications for my social media and turned them all off. I do not always have to be available to everyone at all times. Once I got started, I went through every app on my phone and set the notifications appropriately for each app.
Unfollow. Then I went through my social media accounts, and I unfollowed quite a few people on Facebook and on Instagram, and I hid a few people's stories, I don't need to see them walking around their house every day telling me their every move. I unfollowed "influencers", my bank account can only handle so much influence. 😂 If I didn't recognize the account, then I unfollowed. I even unsubscribed from a bunch of emails that I never read but would show up weekly in my inbox. It felt like a really good cleanse.
Time for a change. I went through a change in my business last year, so I decided to go through my Facebook groups and pages that I followed. Everyone changes over time, and there were a lot of things I didn't need to follow or be a part of anymore. Some groups were not monitored well, and I found them quite frustrating, so I left. I'm sure no one noticed that I was gone, but it felt good not to have to scroll through content that I was no longer interested in.
Limit your time scrolling. This is a hard one because it becomes a habit; you see your phone just sitting there, so you have the urge to pick it up. Then, the next thing you are doing is scrolling through all the apps and then wondering how the phone ended up in your hand. A couple of tricks to limiting your time. Only scroll standing up, you will spend less time scrolling if you are standing and set a timer. Some apps have timers for how long you spend on it in a day or you can use the timer on your phone. It is amazing how quickly you can lose 30 minutes. I was speaking with someone on the weekend, and they do not go on any social media on Sundays. I think that is a good habit that I would like to start.
Break the habit. In order to break the habit, I had to replace the desire to pick up my phone with something that I wanted to do more or something that I should be doing instead. First thing in the morning, I would sit with my coffee and scroll. Now, my mornings are filled with my current Bible Study or 30 minutes of yoga, and I have my coffee when I sit down to work. One of my goals for this year is to spend more time reading, so at night, when I have the urge to sit and scroll, I pick up a book instead. Once I start reading, I usually don't want to quit. So now I am spending more time doing things that are good for my mental wellness, and you know what? I am not missing out on anything that is happening on social media.
Social media has its benefits, and it can be good, but when it gets in between you and the one life that you have to live, then there is a problem. I think most of us have a problem finding that balance.
This week, I am asking you to take a little self-check and see how you are doing. Click below for a checklist that I created.
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