When dreaming of summer break, many students’ minds flutter to thoughts of summer excursions and making unforgettable memories.
However, spending time scrolling on social media, watching your portable screens, etc., can take away time spent on making these memories.
Reasons for chronic online usage
A lot of tips for staying offline are often unhelpful. Most people are already aware that they need to put the phone down and know how to set time limits on their phones. However, factors such as loneliness, lack of transportation freedom and boredom can often get in the way of sticking to an offline lifestyle.
“85 percent of Americans report that they are online daily – this includes 31 percent who report being online ‘almost constantly'”
(Sun, 2024, p.3)
Increasing digital technologies have led to an increase in loneliness amongst almost all demographics.
Social media, smartphones and digital technologies have simultaneously made people lonelier and become the spot for social interactions.
They have made talking to people easy to the point that humanity has stopped relying on social skills to communicate.
We feel more connected, but we really are not.
Just because we see someone’s profile photo next to an Instagram post they liked, or because we text them a couple times a day, we don’t truly know their personalities, interests and sense of self.
With more and more people staying online, it is easier for you to feel lonely and turn to your phone as well.
America is a very car-dependent country. Oftentimes, if you do not have a transportation vehicle, you can not travel to your dream summer locations.
A lack of public transit and non-walkable urban layouts is a huge contributor.
Summer is a time of relaxation, stress, work and other involved tasks on our plates, which can cause burnout.
We simply can not work all hours of the day, so we take breaks to recharge.
We used to recharge by doing tasks that required less brainpower, like lying in the sun, reading a book, knitting, holding conversations, etc. Now, we recharge by doomscrolling.
This is not as stimulating a task, but it still provides us with dopamine, making us stay addicted.
As a whole, our world has become less creative, letting generative AI take over the creative processes, or using other technology to solve our problems and fill up our free time.
Our free time is part of the working process, though it is where we recharge, get ideas and gain happiness.
Boredom should be sat with and used to come up with new ideas and innovations.
Even if the idea is as simple as what to do for the remainder of the day.
Tips to stay offline
When you feel the need to reach for that phone, try to identify the reason why you are reaching for the phone.
If it is a habit or more of a fidget, get outside, swim, run, bike, hike. If the weather is bad, do yoga, follow an indoor workout routine, play with a Rubik’s Cube or do some movement.
If it is boredom, sit with your boredom. Walk around outside, your home, the grocery store, anywhere. Gather inspiration and then channel your thoughts into a journal, a painting, photography or another project.
If it is because you lack the transportation to explore and make the memories you’ve dreamed of, take a walk around the block, introduce yourself to your neighbors and order some seeds to plant a garden. Reframe your summer goals into what is attainable for you.
If it is because of a desire to socialize or you are lonely, you could try to reach out to friends and see if they will tag along on outings with you. Often, though, this is out of your control, so you may have to take the time to sit and be okay with being alone. Our phones have made us accustomed to constant availability, constant communication and immediacy. Slowly start to do things you want to do with other people by yourself, and when they can join, stay in the moment and appreciate their presence.
From hiking to lounging on a picnic blanket – embrace the outdoors, it will make you feel more in touch with yourself, and decrease your desire to reach for that phone.
