Something has been popping up more and more in my talks with Steemians from all corners of the globe.
It seems that A LOT of us are addicted to Steemit.
And are struggling with it.
MASSIVELY.
Steem Kitty is by who'll be getting a slice of SBD for letting me use her beautiful art for this post!
Zooming in on my own experience.
These are some of the so-called symptoms I have been having from being so addicted to Steemit.
- Obsessively thinking about Steemit pretty much 24/7
- Checking Steemit on my phone every chance that I get (when I am on the toilet, waiting for the bus, in the tram, when I have to wait for the water to boil for my cup of tea)
- Linking every damn conversation to Steemit.
- Feeling happy when I am alone at home so I can deliciously satisfy my Steemit ‘needs’(Seriously, got anxious because I wasn’t spending as much time on Steemit as I wanted to)
- Constantly thinking of new posts to write based on my real life experiences (aka conversations I have had with peeps)
- Neglecting my personal relationships (yes, I have had arguments about my Steemit time with the boyfriend)
- Waking up in the middle of the night and checking my Steemit blog (which in turn really disrupts my sleep)
- Physical and emotional neglection of myself (Totally forgot to give myself quality time and practice self-love)
It’s pretty heavy ey?
And these are pretty much the symptoms of a full-blown addiction.
Do you recognize yourself in this as well?
The thing is even though I really really love Steemit so much, I have to face the reality that this is not healthy.
Although I was feeling mega elated and happy about Steemit overall, I also deeply felt that my behaviour was not making me happy.
It’s not a very joyful place being an obsessed, a little crazy, glued-to-the-screen woman.
This is not the basis for a productive, healthy, love-based experience of life.
In the long-run, this is going to tear me apart and spew me out on the digital gutter.
This is NOT going to work.
I HAVE to find a balance so that I do not end up on burning myself out.
So what do I do?
Well, I have been limiting my Steemit time. I won’t obsessively check Steemit every moment that I get. And although it was difficult at first, now it’s pretty easy.
When I have a free day, I will only spend four hours behind the laptop doing Steemit-related stuff like organizing things for , finding content for the Planet Steem Twitter account, hunting for posts to nominate for
, talking on Discord and Steemit.chat and of course, my own intuitive writing!
Taking time for myself, enjoying being in the moment and just taking myself out on a date!
Which feels damn good.
It felt really uncomfortable in the beginning because my whole being was so used to being so involved with Steemit that it kinda felt like I was missing an arm and I was getting a little uncomfortable and anxiety-fueled thoughts entered my mind like ‘You’ve got to post once a day or people are not going to like you anymore!’.
Thankfully, I can see that these thoughts aren’t really true and is just the addiction speaking, so I don’t pay them much attention.
And now I am a much happier, calmer human being.
And I can show up on here with a complete presence and give you my all.
My Steemit limitations that I set up for myself, have completely made me a better person and my writing has become a hell of a lot better.
Because I am not writing to write, I am writing to express my heart.
Which I always was but when there’s this little voice of pressure constantly talking in your head, you succumb to that pretty quickly.
And now that voice is gone and I am here, writing the things that I believe are important and coming straight outta of my whole being.
So to anyone struggling with a Steemit addiction, I’d suggest taking a really hard look at the person you are now and what this addiction is doing with you.
Is it serving you?
Is it making you happy?
Is it healthy?
And do what you feel is best for you!
Here’s to talking with about this which was why this post was created.
Here’s to acknowledging your Steemit addiction.
Here’s to having a good healthy life.
Still struggling with my Steemit addiction but doing A LOT better already,
Ashley
My LoveProject is ! Featuring the humans behind the Steemit usernames!