Too much of almost anything in our culture can be bad. Culture is saturated with negative things, including obsessions with screens. Whether it’s burying one’s nose in a phone or the addiction to a TV screen, culture has addictions. One thing everyone who reads here frequently knows is the opinion I hold that social media is a harm to society. Earlier this year, I took a week off from screens (with exceptions that I’ll share).
DISCUSSION | THE TOP-STREAMED SHOWS ARE AT LEAST FIVE YEARS OLD AND THE INTERNET ASKS WHY?
I TOOK A WEEK OFF FROM SCREENS. HERE’S HOW IT WENT. Talking about taking a week off screens and #socialmedia. #Work #Discussion #Opinions #Blog #Blogging #Blogger Click To TweetIn culture, saturated topics tend to be divisive, negative and immoral. A quick peruse of Twitter or TikTok tells us this. Stats even suggest that depression rates are sky-high because of or in part because of social media. Earlier this year, I made a decision. I decided I was going to take screen breaks throughout the year. So far, I’ve taken one. I’m here to talk about that inception and my logic behind it, plus how the week went. i took a week off from screens
THE INCEPTION
The reason behind this was something I saw somewhere, ironically likely Instagram. It just hit me one day while I was working. I don’t need agreement from people in my life, I can simply take initiative and move away, in “time off” kind of way, from social media.
Initially, the plan was to take two weeks off, but then I decided that was too much. The reason why is because it would require too much “catch up” work, while also trying to keep current with “new” work. So, instead we went with a week.
THE LOGIC
My reasoning for this was because I think it’s good to take breaks. My work requires a computer, so for me, sitting around at a screen (like a phone) outside of that isn’t something I want or like to do. Even watching films isn’t as enjoyable as before, though that’s for others reasons, too.
THE PREPERATION
To prep for this, I prescheduled a week plus a day of content, which I expected to be much more time consuming and difficult than it was. Likely, the ease of this had two helping hands. One being a calendar and secondly, I try to review everything I see, which sometimes means I have a stash of reviews for such a time as this. Additionally, I prepped some social media posts using a scheduling service.
I TOOK A WEEK OFF FROM SCREENS. HERE’S HOW IT WENT. Talking about taking a week off screens and #socialmedia. #Work #Discussion #Opinions #Blog #Blogging #Blogger Click To Tweet
THE WEEK OFF and HOW IT WENT
The week off, which I put on my calendar to help ensure I actually did, happened on January 28th through February third. It was both bad and good. The bad is 30 some hours in, the restless set in because I wasn’t working, which feels foreign not to do. But after that, things evened out (I was fine at the start) and getting through the rest of the week went well. I took a week off from screens
My dad’s birthday fell on that week, and since he wasn’t at work that day, it was nice. Projects were completed too.
THE EXEMPTIONS
In the interest of being up front, which I strive to be, I did have to log on (less than five minutes) to post my Tuesday book list link up, and again on Friday (which was a longer stretch) to put together my publication for the day since it’s not something I could pre-plan. I also watched films with my mother on the weekend nights, and a TV episode on three days because it’s something she enjoys, and so I do that with her. But on my own, I watched no TV. Instead, I returned to my reading roots (which I haven’t done much of again now) and did carry on a recently renewed habit which is to play board games on the nights I wasn’t watching a TV episode; and this reminds me how much I like classic board games like Clue and Scrabble.
All in all, even with the bumps, this was a success. It feels good to go without scrolling social media or be online where stories and arguments run wild. This is a habit I plan to continue throughout the year, and in fact, did hope to have a second week under my belt when I was writing this. The week I was going to do it again, which was the first full week in March didn’t quite work out because of something else, and as it turned out, something I didn’t plan for. But it’s still in the plans. i took a week off from screens
No matter your opinion on social media or if you think it’s a positive or negative, taking a break is healthy and good, and is something anyone can benefit from.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Have you ever taken a week off from your phone or socials or the Internet? What did you think of it? Did it feel good? Did you enjoy it? Comment all of your thoughts below. Let’s meet in the comments section.
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