Dangers of social media.
Social media can be quite poisonous at times. Not only do we feel addicted to it, but we don’t even realize the damage that it causes to our emotions and mental health.
A few days ago I noticed I was feeling extremely unhappy, unsatisfied. I felt like as if I didn’t know what is my purpose in life and I felt confused about what I’m trying to accomplish.
I also felt like I wasn’t trying and working hard enough even though I’m working harder in my life now than I’ve ever before.
These kinds of feelings popped up randomly on some days, but on other days they didn’t even seem to exist. So I decided to go on a mission to find out what caused these feelings in me of not trying hard enough and doing my best.
I analyzed a couple of weeks of my life and I looked at my journal. I went over every single day and analyzed what did I do on the days that I didn’t feel the best about myself, my work, my passion and my life. I noticed a pattern.
On the days where I felt incredibly happy, satisfied and aligned with my purpose in life there was one thing that I didn’t do. What’s that you might wonder?
Social media. I didn’t check social media for the first few hours of my day.
Do you check social media first thing in the morning?
I am 99% sure most of us are used to checking social media the first minute we wake up. We check what’s going on in the world, or if I’m completely honest, we check what others are up to.
We check Snapchat and Instagram stories to see what they did.
This is where we fall into the trap of social media. This is where I ALWAYS fell into the trap of social media.
I used to check stories and everything else the second I woke up. That caused my mind to see all these people living the dream, traveling or doing whatever else I wanted/wished to do. Only that wasn’t my life, I had to get up and start my regular day. No palm trees for me, just snow.
Don’t get me wrong, my life is absolutely beautiful. In fact, I could go on for ages about everything I’m grateful for in my life. The thing is you make it incredibly hard for your mind to focus on what you have when you immediately slam it with what others have. Your mind has no option but to compare your life with the life of others. In some cases, that can make you happier. But most of the time it’ll only make you miserable. At least that’s what it did to me.
Implement rules to limit negative effects of social media.
I decided it was time for a change.
I decided that from now on I’m going of off social media. Unless it’s to engage and reply to others or post on my social media accounts.
Only under those 2 conditions, I’m allowed to open my now ‘’forbidden’’ social media app folder on my phone.
Another rule that I implemented into my life is that under no condition I’m allowed to open any of the social media apps til afternoon. This allows me to work and study with 0 distractions, which allows me to get a lot more done.
Mental benefits of limiting social media:
Here’s what I experienced after following these rules for a couple of days:
- No more anxiety about the future.
- No more stress about the amount of work I put in.
- No more doubt about being on the right path in life.
- No more sadness about my life not being good enough.
- No more unnecessary distractions.
- I get much much more work done in a shorter period of time.
- I feel much more grateful.
- I feel more focused.
- I feel more mentally clear, no more brain fog.
- I’m much happier.
These are just some of the benefits that I’ve been experiencing. I promise you. If you are suffering from any of the reasons that I mentioned above. Reasons like comparing yourself to others or not feeling too good about yourself or your current situation. Try this. Quit social media.
I know that this doesn’t essentially mean to fully quit social media. I do realize that social media is a big aspect of our lives and that it’s very hard to quit it entirely. Especially if you have a business built around it.
That’s exactly why I use the rules I do. I only use social media to communicate/engage with my followers and to post. Everything else like stories or newsfeed is off limits.
I really think and believe this has the power to turn your life around, try it.
Until next time,
Benjamin 🙂