Zoë Suggs IGTV's on Important Topics:
Saturday 5th September was Digital Detox Day, so I stopped using all forms of social media for the entire day. It was a campaign for mental health run by Zoë Sugg, Jordan Stephens and the I Am Whole UK team. I absolutely agree that it's super important that we step back from social media every now and then to switch off the noise, and re-connect with ourselves.
I've been thinking lately about how much of being on social media is watching other people live their lives, instead of fully living our own - and after my first week physically back at work after six months at home, I really needed it, and was actually looking forward to it all week.
Everyday throughout the week, Zoë uploaded IGTV's on very important topics, including anxiety, cyberbullying, and how to have boundaries on social media. All of the discussions were incredibly interesting and every one of them made me even more excited about digital detox day at the end of the week. They're linked as the resource at the top of this blog post today.
Although it was just for one day, and I definitely know people who have done it for longer, I really enjoyed it and want to share my thoughts on how I did it, and how I found it. Spoiler alert: I have decided that I think I'll be making it a weekly thing. All of my notifications are still off so I'll still only be engaging with social media when I choose to, not when notifications dictate. Boundaries.
Here are my thoughts:
On Friday night, I moved all of my social media apps into a folder and banished that folder off of my home page. I even went as far as naming the folder 'DO NOT OPEN', but I didn't really need to do this because honestly, I didn't even go looking for the folder once. Not seeing the apps on my homepage was enough for me, but more than anything, turning off all of my notifications really helped the most! It turns out that I don't have the urge to open any of the apps if I'm not seeing notifications from them.
I should mention that I allowed myself to watch YouTube for some entertainment, but I only allowed myself to watch new uploads in my subscription box, so this stopped me from spending hours trawling the recommended page. I also only ever watched videos if my fiancé left the room, so that I was entirely present and attentive every single moment that we were sat together.
At the start of the day, we woke up at 9am and talked/cuddled for a few hours which was really nice - as opposed to silently laying next to each other with phones in our hands, like we usually would on a Saturday morning.
After getting out of bed, I did my work out routine first thing, followed by some yoga to warm down, and then drank my first pint of water for the day. Now, on a usual day, I would still do all of these things, but they would definitely be after about an hour of scrolling through Instagram aimlessly, so I really enjoyed the energetic start to the morning a lot more.
Throughout the day, I found myself with the urge to hold my phone in my hand for no reason, which was very strange, but understandable seeing as I've been someone who uses my phone a lot for so many years now. I was always that Tumblr user who would scroll all the way down the dashboard until they caught up to where they last posted, even if I wasn't actually enjoying what I was seeing anymore. It just became a chore and something I *had* to do. I think I feel that way about Instagram Stories now, and I'm going to try to break out of that cycle. If I open Instagram and there are lots of coloured circles of unwatched stories, I sit and watch them all until there are no more, as if I've accomplished something by watching them all. I didn't miss them at all on Saturday, so that says a lot.
Further to this, I found that I had the urge to post about my life much more than I wondered about what other people were posting about theirs. For example, Stephen made an incredible homemade tomato soup which I would have usually posted a photo of. When we were watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (for the 20th time, probably), I had the urge to tweet about how much I hate the trope of two people being too embarrassed to tell the other they want to be exclusive, that they lie about how many other people they're seeing/compete to be dating more people than the other. So silly.
We spent a lot of time outside together which was cute seeing as we haven't really been out together since around February. We got to hold hands around Sainsburys and do the weekly shop, and I really wanted to post a photo of my eye make up look. This doesn't do it justice, but I used 'Pride' from the Nikkie Tutorials x Beauty Bay palette, which is absolutely stunning.
We also learnt why we shouldn't go shopping together as we're massive snackers, and we both advocate for carrying a 24 pack of crisps home in our arms if it was on sale for £3...
We then made dinner and then sat down to watch "I'm thinking of ending things" on Netflix, accompanied by these cosy treats.
Overall, I really enjoyed the day, and especially liked being able to use my phone for the camera, or for the odd YouTube video, (I only watched 2 or 3), without being bombarded with notifications.
Saturday also really showed me that I much prefer meaningful conversations. I would much prefer a weekly or fortnightly catch up with my best friend etc, than short messages every day which don't go into much detail. It's so easy to slip into the "yeah I'm good, you?" mindset because it's easier, but the next time someone asks, (if you're comfortable/close enough), try to really tell them the truth about how you're actually feeling. It makes for a much more heartfelt conversation.
How did you spend your Digital Detox Day? xo
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