How Limiting Social Media Transforms Your Day

Being present in your life leads to greater rewards

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

I almost quit social media last week. My growing business was the only reason I didn’t go through with it.

Social media became a place of anxiety and anger. Misinformation and politically charged posts littered my feeds — no matter how much I tried to curate them.

Each day was more frustrating than the last, and I finally hit my breaking point after the US Presidential debate.

I immediately set my screen time for all social media apps to two hours a day and intentionally closed Facebook and Twitter tabs in my browser. My phone won’t allow me to access apps past 10 pm, either.

It’s been less than a week since I implemented these changes, and it already transformed my life. I’m happier, more creative, productive, and am finding joy in activities from my childhood.

Here’s how limiting social media can transform your life too:

You’ll feel happier and less stressed

Prelockdown, many of us were too busy to focus on social media’s comings and goings. Lockdown took many extracurriculars away, and we filled those gaps with scrolling through our feeds.

When you remove social media and Internet browsing from the picture, the exposure to negativity or comparison traps is gone. You’ll find yourself doing activities that light you up. You connect with friends and family in real life (or as close as social distancing lets us).

You begin to focus on things that matter and stay present. You engage with the world and people around you and don’t focus on situations out of your control. Being present in your life leads to greater rewards and more authentic interactions.

Your productivity will increase

Work from home gave us the green light to spend more time on social media. Without management watching over our shoulders, we felt more freedom to log on to apps during our day. Instead of waiting for a break or lull in our work to check the most recent notification, we immediately click through to read the post. Other posts catch our attention, and we find…