Like many of you, I’ve begun to take a more critical look at how I’ve been using social media. I say this as someone who teaches graduate-level students about using social and digital media but also uses it professionally and personally. At one point can we walk away from platforms that have been designed to keep us engaged as long as possible, to the detriment of our IRL relationships and interested? For those of you who are unfamiliar with IRL = in real life. See? Our lives have become shorthand. I don’t want to live a shorthand life.
Earlier this year, I learned of two books: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy and Do Nothing. Since I had a lot of time to, quite literally, do nothing once the coronavirus pandemic hit and we were forced to shelter-in-place, I began reading both.
Detoxing My Brain & Investing in Leisure
I need a break from a lot of things. I learned through Do Nothing that we often mask situations that need our attention by being “busy”. Sure, we can be busy with work but is it possible we’re adding more “busy” work than necessary? And how does doomscrolling help (hint: it doesn’t)?
Social media is a tough addiction to crack. As I said earlier, I teach on the topic, I use it for work, I use it to stay in touch with friends and family all over the world, I manage social media accounts for clients: I cannot escape it. I’m on it a lot – probably more than I need to be and I justify that because of what I do and how I use it. That’s not a good excuse. I can’t escape from using it from work but I can manage how I use it.
I started leaving my phone by my desk and not bringing it into my bedroom at night. That means I don’t wake up tempted to check email right when I wake up (or Twitter). Let me tell you, that habit has been and is still hard to break. It’s not been an easy road and this week, especially, I’ve broken my rule.
Still, I’ve been better at leaving my phone away from me during the day and evenings. When I take daily walks with my dog, I use that time to either enjoy the moment or catch up with friends by phone since we can’t see each other IRL. Talking is better than texting and I love hearing what my friends are doing to keep themselves sane during this time.
I’ve taken up indoor gardening and made new friends (shout out to Marius at Chicago Roots Hydroponics because I almost gave up on my new hydroponics garden!). I’ve been working on cleaning up our home, organizing stuff and throwing away a lot of things that needed to be discarded – and that has been more cathartic than I imagined.
As I share this, the United States has yet to announce our next president and that is weighing heavily on me and the rest of the country.
Forest Therapy Time
I don’t know what the rest of this year will bring but I do know I won’t find the answers on social media. Instead, I’ll continue to invest that time into more leisure time and spending it with those closest to me. And for those of you near me, holler if you want to take some walks in the park together. I’m planning to amp up my forest therapy sessions.