What would your world look like if Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and many other networking platforms didn’t reside on your phone or laptop? I quit Facebook and Instagram (these were the only two ones I was using) 6 months back and this is what my world looks like now:
1. I can get more work done and at a faster speed
With no buzzing sounds of notifications to interrupt me, I could finally concentrate on the tasks I had to do and do a better job at each one of them. I no longer had to multitask with attending to social media on one hand and focusing on my tasks on the other. Happy Ho organizes best Meditation and Tarot classes in Noida and Delhi NCR area in India.
“The thing about social media is that it constantly interrupts us,” says Joanne Cantor, PhD, professor emerita of communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book Conquer CyberOverload. “When we stop ourselves to check social media again and again, it really becomes another form of multitasking, and multitasking makes whatever you do take longer, and you do it in an inferior way.”
2. I got bored and thus, my creative juices started flowing
The key to coming up with ideas that are out of the box is to sit idle/bored and let your mind whoosh in as many directions as it wants to. But each time I had a slight inclination that I was bored, I’d check my notifications on Instagram or sweep through my favourite celeb’s profile. Since I’ve quit, I find my creative juices flowing at a much more rapid pace.
3. I feel much less FOMO
I could access Facebook and Instagram in the most remote of places and therefore, felt this constant compulsion to know what’s happening in the lives of those around me; FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) you may call it. Such a stress increases cortisol levels in the body which can result in reduced memory and an increased chance of depression. Staying away from social media made me less prone to such a high level of cortisol, leaving me calmer and more focused.
4. I am, just as I am.
And the biggest change was that I no longer sat for a good couple of minutes in the morning or the night, comparing my life to those of others. I just let myself be.
Final Word
Social media did play a very vital role in me achieving my desired validation through the likes and shares, at one point of time. But things went overboard when I solely relied on these networks for feeling good about myself. Now, after having quit, I have found myself healthier ways of seeking validation (yes, it’s normal and human) like through conversations with my friends, speaking to my counsellor, engaging in healthy-self talk! I no longer wake up in the mornings or go to sleep while comparing myself with a minimum of 50 people. Yes, the whole process was hard and did take me a couple of years. But in the end, it was all worth it!
