I did it. I thought this break would give me a bit of clarity on how I wanted to use social media going forward. It didn’t. Over the last 30 days, I was very aware of every time I picked up my phone to open Facebook or Twitter multiple times a day up to and including this final day of my break.
This morning I reinstalled both apps on my phone and opened them for the first time. Almost instant anxiety. That’s not hyperbole. There’s a place for social media in my life, but the constant scrolling and “window looking” isn’t it. My thoughts lean towards removing both apps from my phone again and maybe just accessing them on my laptop. Using social media this way would be a deliberate and thoughtful way of accessing them since I use my iPad and phone for a lot of web browsing, reading, etc. I want to use it to keep up with friends, but almost everyone I’m friends with on these apps I don’t live near or even see regularly. It’s a hard thing to balance, to be honest, and I’m not balancing it well.
Something I want to continue doing is writing in this blog. I’ve enjoyed having this as an outlet for thoughts, and I think it’s helping me get more comfortable writing. I’m also amazed at how much I remember from all my English classes, having a mother from England and an English teacher is beneficial as well! I did spring for a premium Grammarly account to try and rein in my tendency to over-comma things, and while not perfect, it’s also helping my writing.