I recently took a week off to take my family to Disney and Universal. I learned that being without social media really is “the happiest place on earth.”
Now, I did upload my pictures from the day to Facebook at night. And I did check in for a political update since the Iowa caucus was that week. But I didn’t linger on Facebook or Twitter, absently scrolling through a barrage of posts.
You know what? It felt good!
So good, in fact, that I still haven’t resumed my social media habits. There were times I’d crash on the couch after a tough day and catch up to what my friends were doing on Facebook, or find something funny on Twitter (I follow mostly comedians and cartoonists, that way there’s always something funny to counter the bad news.)
Usually, when that happens, though, suddenly half an hour has gone by and I’ve got nothing to show for it.
In addition to it sucking up free time, it consumes emotional energy. With social media, every single problem is right outside your door. Most of these problems are things you can’t do anything about (especially not while sitting on your couch). A lot of these problems won’t be a big deal in another day. Maybe not even another hour. The 24-hour crisis factory will have churned something else out by then.
Try this experiment: go without social media for a week. This doesn’t count stuff you do for work. Just your personal pages. You’ll find that you’ll be happier, more open-minded, more productive, and your neck won’t hurt from being hunched over a little phone. Instead of letting other people’s thoughts bounce around in your brain, take a “stay-cation” and stay in your own head for a while.
Chris Lundy
News Editor
