Happy & Health

phone CHALLENGE

a weekend without social media

So, it feels as though I just woke up from hibernation. I survived, people: no Instagram and no Facebook for three days. Because offline is the new online, everyone knows that right? How it went? Well, let me tell ya, there were a lot of ups and downs.

Friday

10.15 AM: I do my last round of swiping, pressing on hearts and scrolling right before the challenge kicks off. I make sure to post photo with a caption of my plan to go through the week Facebook and Instagram-less. It feels like I’m going to miss out on a big chunk of my life.

10.36 AM: By this time I would have usually been on Instagram at least four more times checking out how many people responded to my post. I’m not going to do it. Not. Going. To. Do. It.

10.38 AM: Alright, this weekend is going to be hard…

13.50 AM: On a more positive note: writing posts is going a lot quicker than usual. I’ve made sure to put my phone at a distance so I don’t continuously feel tempted. My focus is a lot better than it normally is.

16:02 PM: Alright, I’m being way too tempted by the Facebook pop-ups popping up on my phone.

16:08 PM: I just deleted Facebook and Instagram from my phone. Bye byeee temptation! #superbadass.

20:21 PM: I definitely would have cheated by now if I hadn’t deleted the apps. Give or take seventeen times.

Saturday

10:17 AM: I wake up and grab my phone. I automatically head to the  area where I kept all my social platforms. Emphasis on the word ‘kept’. Let’s see if anything interesting happened on WhatsApp.

12.03 PM: Okay. OMG, help. Apparently Instagram had an update and we’re all able to ZOOM IN on photos now. And I can’t even try it out. Growl.

16.40 PM: My not so Amayzine colleagues are not making this any easier. And I quote: ‘Check out that boob shot from *(no, I’m not going to name any names) on Insta.” And then the entire group goes into a full on discussion about the boobs. Crap. Now I’m realizing that if you aren’t on social, you miss a lot of social.

19:32 PM: If I can’t enjoy one of my addictions, I might as well enjoy the other: the entire new season of Orange Is The New Black.

Sunday

11.25 AM: This seems like the first day that I’m having an easier time dealing with not being on social media. My head definitely feels a lot more seven now that I haven’t checked Instagram for at least 48 hours. The excuse of ‘not having time to go jogging’ is suddenly bullshit now that I have a social media ban. 5K under the belt(!).

14:02 PM: And I cleaned my entire house. #distractiondistraction #yesImstillthinkinginhashtags

17:23 PM: Almost there. Almost. I can technically save the food photo I’m currently taking for tomorrow, when I’m officially allowed to use Insta again. Or is that thought alone banned now too?

Monday

07:02 AM: IT’S D-DAY! I do a little happy dance. The alarm goes off and the very first thing I do is: download Instagram and Facebook. 40 new followers. And a lot of hearts. Which, if I’m being honest, is a lot more fun then seeing one or two new ones every so often. I open Facebook: 42 notifications. I turn it off again because I actually don’t have time to go through everything this morning. Time to properly wake up.

Conclusion: One the one hand it really isn’t easy (and scary because you experience some sort of withdrawal symptoms) but on the other hand it was one of the chillest weekends ever. In a world that’s online 24/7, it was nice to be ‘off’, even just for a little while. My phone battery lasted an eternity. Give it a try and you’ll know exactly what I mean. I slept a lot better, had more time for myself and what did I miss? Exactly like I thought: Absolutely nothing. Besides Kim Kardashian’s ass.