Happy & Healthy

a weekend without social media

I can try and be a complete badass and pretend like this is going to be a piece of cake but my god, 48 hours without social media?! Holy shit. HELP.

You’re probably wondering: why even bother? Well, let me tell you. My phone and I, we’re attached at the hip. Or better put: it’s an extension of my arm. I’m on it way to much. Especially Instagram. I suddenly start to question whether I’m an addict. I can hardly even recall what my days were like without social media.

To be honest: I’ve started to get bored of my phone lately. The social pressure, the restlessness in my body when I haven’t posted something ‘fun’ for a couple of days. I’m at a loss of ideas of things to post. And I secretly just want to see what it’s like to spend a weekend with my boy without being interrupted by digital platforms.

The first step to this challenge is seeing how bad my social media addiction is. Are you as bad as I am? Here’s a checklist. Make note of how many times you are capable of answering the question with ‘yes’:

– Do you have more virtual than ‘real’ friends?

– Do you spend more time on social media than personal contact?

– Is most of the contact you have with others through social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?

– As soon as you see a pop up stating that you got a new message, do you check it?

– Do you get nervous or agitated when you don’t have service and can’t get onto social media?

– Do others (your boy, parents or friends) tell you to spend less time on social media?

– Do you check your social media platforms as soon as you wake up in the morning and right before you go to sleep?

– When you wake up in the middle of the night to check if you have messages?

– Struggling with a lack of sleep due to social media?

– Do you use social media when you’re depressed or bored?

– Do you think you spend too much time on social media?

– Do you start to panic as soon as you can’t find your phone even when you aren’t expecting an important phone call?

Yes. Yes. YES. YES. YES. That’s 11 ‘yes” and 1 ‘no’. If you can answer test to at least two or three of these questions, experts say you’re an addict. “Social media plays such a huge role in your life and it affects you, even when you aren’t seated behind your laptop or on your phone,” is something I read. “Other aspects of your life are probably even suffering from it, things that are equally important, if not more important. It’s a good idea to start decreasing the amount you use it or perhaps even try a day without it.”

Okay fuck it, here I go. It’s Friday and this weekend I won’t post anything or look at what other people are posting. Offline is the new online, everyone knows that right? I’ll make sure to update you on Monday. 3, 2, 1, GO!