“But what I realised was, the reason why I wasn’t getting as much done as I wanted to and the reason why I was laying in bed so much was because every time I was in bed, every time I was relaxing and trying to recharge. I was using that time to beat myself up and scream at myself internally for not doing enough…I was just making myself more tired.”
– Emma Chamberlain
Does social media motivate us to be productive? At the start of the first lockdown in the UK, I turned to TikTok and YouTube, in particular, to spend my time, as I’m sure many others did. Despite, the whole world coming to a halt, people still seemed to be ‘living their best lives’, and somehow had a routine from day to day, while others including me lay in bed. Many filmed their daily walks, runs, workouts, a quick pop into Sainsbury’s or a coffee shop; yet I would be incredibly jealous and disappointed in myself that I had essentially done nothing that day. I was addicted to continuing with picking at my insecurities.
However, a couple of months in, Emma Chamberlain’s videos became my bible, and now I watch them twice a week. I’d noticed her words of wisdom had become edits on TikTok, and I think that many became dependent on her for that security during these times. These audios came at the exact right time as well, people called her podcasts (Anything Goes) ‘free therapy’, and cried at that fact someone understood them and our generation. Emma provides realness to her viewers, yet also conceals her private and more social life, which is an esteeming relationship with social media itself. A particularly well-used audio was from her podcast ‘success kills creativity’, where she explains that trying to be so motivated can affect you negatively, “I think that trying to work through it… can do more harm than good. But I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know what the right way to handle it is. Maybe there is no right way.”
Emma said in one of her videos that she has now deleted TikTok because of the time she spent on it; she now replaces that wasted time with reading. For a couple of weeks, you would just see her reading in her bed with her cats and that was equalling fulfilling. It was enough. Overall, I think a part of growing up is filling your day with activities that make you happier, as opposed to activities that just make you feel productive. Because it’s okay not to do so much. It’s your life, no one else’s. You don’t need to include it or watch it in an ‘A Day in the Life’ or ‘What I Eat in A Day’ video to show your success. On the other hand, watching what you have done that day might be a motivation in itself.
Within society, everybody has a different relationship with social media and life itself, and that’s perfectly okay. You just need to find what works best for you.