Do you feel stuck in a draining social media cycle? Me too. I feel as if I go through waves where some months I’m good at not going on my phone too much and then other times (mainly winter and spring) where I am on my phone ALL the time. I won’t even notice I’m on my phone and I’ll look up and an hour has gone by, that’s how far deep I’m in. It’s been making me feel bad and I just don’t feel like myself. I feel as if I’m in a dream or when I look around me nothing seems real and I’m just tired all the time. If anyone can relate, you are not alone.

I am challenging myself to not go on social media such as Instagram and TikTok for a few days and after that limiting my time on it by almost 85%. If you would like to join me that would be awesome. I am so programmed to my phone that I have a hard time when I’m not on it and that’s why I want to detox so I can feel like me again and not accustomed to wasting hours and hours on my phone.

Stuck in a cycle

You know when you get your screen time notification and it always says “up some percentage from last week” and you see the hours you’ve spent on your phone a day and then you’re like wow that’s way too much but then you don’t really do anything about it? That’s where I’ve been. It doesn’t feel good because I keep going back on my phone!! I’ll wake up and go straight on it which I used to NEVER do in the past. Not saying this is an excuse, but where I live my winter is really long. So when it’s starting to get warmer in other places it will be warm here one day and then be snowing the next and is unpredictable. I am beyond grateful for where I live but sometimes it’s draining and sad because you want to go do outside activities. I thrive on sunshine personally so when the sun is out my mood is already boosted. When the sun is not out, I stay inside and turn to my phone…

I’ve caught myself bringing my phone everywhere with me for example to the kitchen, to the living room, to the bathroom and then get distracted for a while there. It’s horrid really. Then the worst is when I’ll get into bed early and I stare at my phone for about 2 hours before falling asleep. It is vicious!!

How it’s making me feel

How does this social media cycle make me feel? So so bad. Like I said before I feel like I’m living in a fog and not noticing the beauty around me as much as I used to. I waste so much time consuming nothing when I can be working on something beneficial for my future or doing an activity I love. Social media is great for opportunity don’t get me wrong but when you’re consuming more than you’re producing that’s when it can turn sour. Also just seeing peoples “highs” on social media all the time is not good. This leads to comparison and making you feel as if you should be further along in life and what not.

Another minus is I don’t have as much patience as I used to, even with small tasks. Social media gives us instant gratification these days so we expect that in the real world and that’s just not how the real world works!

Holding myself accountable

I wrote this post to help me reflect and hopefully to help others who are feeling the same. The thing it comes down to is self discipline and if you want to feel better you will put in the effort to do so. I know you may think you are missing out but I promise you’re not.

I am going to try to get into a consistent routine. Not going on my phone for an hour when I wake up. I will try mediation, reading, journaling or jamming to music that puts me in a good mood. I am going to not take my phone with me everywhere. If I need to take a shit I can do it on the shits time and not my phone’s time where I get sucked in for like 20 minutes. I would really like to stay off my phone at least for 30 minutes before I go to bed.

Breaking bad habits is never easy

It’s hard to break a bad habit that is part of your routine like clock work (literally) but starting small is even a great start in the right direction. Try to keep yourself busy and try new things.

I will check back in with updates on how it’s going in a couple weeks. If you want to join in with me, comment below. You are stronger than you think you are!