Growing up in the 21st Century has been a blessing and a curse. I grew up with very different opportunities than my parents. I was blessed with Google at my fingertips, Facebook to connect with friends and family, Instagram and Snapchat. I was given my first ‘smartphone’ at the age of 15. During the most impactful years of my life, I had access to constant ridicule and judgment. Twitter was the first means of communication for me while I was in high school. If you wanted to be caught up on the latest gossip, Twitter was where you would find it. When I was 17 I had turned in my Blackberry for the newest IPhone. Meaning that I now had access to Snapchat and Instagram, which were not accessible on my Blackberry.
Since the age of 17 I have been sharing my life and following everyone else’s more than I have been trying to maintain meaningful relationships in the ‘real world’. Social media has consumed my existence in this growing technological world. I have been on the receiving end of my life being shared by others on their Instagram accounts. I have been on the receiving end of online bullying. No matter how old I get, it will never feel good.
I have gotten to a point in my life where technology and my cell phone have become more of a curse in my life than a blessing. So I decided to delete my social apps for a day, just to see what happens.
I deleted them on Sunday night right before I went to bed. I can honestly say that my sleep on Sunday was better than any other nights sleep in a while. I didn’t feel the need to check my phone in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t care who had tagged me in memes late at night and I didn’t care who had liked my Instagram picture that I had posted earlier in the day. I had completely shut down and slept through the entire night because I was never subconsciously thinking about what my apps were doing while I was sleeping.
Fast forward to Monday morning. I woke up and instead of lying in bed for 20 minutes watching Snapchat stories and scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, I got up. I didn’t even check my phone until I had gotten in my car to play music.
I didn’t have a very busy day on Monday and usually I spend most of my day scrolling through apps just to pass the time. I had 2 classes and I went to the gym. In both of my classes I had my phone on silent and it was packed away in my backpack. I took a lot more from both of my lectures when I was disconnected from the cyber world. I had my phone on me when I was at the gym but that was strictly to play music!
In the time that I would normally waste scrolling through my apps, I spent my time catching up on readings that I had fallen behind on. I put my nose in a book instead of in my phone. It was extremely refreshing.
I ended my day finishing my readings and preparing for Tuesday. I was way more productive on Monday than I have been in a while. I took the time to sit down with professors in their office hours to pass the time, instead of waiting outside my lecture hall with my nose in my phone. I fell asleep 2 hours earlier than I usually do and slept way better than normal. I didn’t spend time in bed looking at my phone, instead I read until I was tired and fell asleep.
I deleted my apps because I needed a break. I needed to disconnect and shut off from the world. It was the best decision I have ever made.
I did end up re-downloading the apps Tuesday morning but since I have deleted the apps and realized how much I enjoyed it, I have been restricting my time on the apps.
I strongly encourage everyone to delete the apps. Try it just for a day and see how you feel. You might realize that you want to delete them all together. Or you might just appreciate the detox.
I will be deleting all of my apps from now on every Sunday night until Tuesday morning. Just once a week to detox from something that has consumed my life since I was 15.