I grew up never really watching much TV. Even in my
twenties, I still don’t. I haven’t had cable in many years and I just cancelled
my Netflix subscription because even though it’s inexpensive, I rarely used it.
I have my shows I like but they are few…I would rather spend my time being
productive or surfing Pinterest. This is just a preference. I have no problem
plugging my earphones into tune out the discussion about the last episode of
Game of Thrones while I’m at work. It just doesn’t interest me but I do
understand that many people feel the opposite and I have no issue with that.
I always thought that without TV I was missing out…on all
the violence, death, bloodshed, infidelity, objectification, general
negativity, and political propaganda being shoved down my throat. I was missing
out on all of that until I realized my Facebook newsfeed became the replacement
for all the things I was missing out on. It was worse than TV.
I spent more time on Facebook than I ever have binge-watching Doctor Who
episodes. I was using Facebook the second I woke up, while I was at work, in
the car, at home, in social situations, and in the freaking bathroom. For
someone who is very sensitive to violence and negativity, this affected me more
than I’d like to admit. People bashing each other in comments and posting
targeted passive aggressive status updates made the world seem like such a
cold, nasty, and hopeless place.
The negativity began to make me wonder if I should just stop
using Facebook altogether. But I could never do that because I was addicted
just like everyone else. I am embarrassed to admit the countless times my
partner has asked me to put my phone down to pay attention to him while he was
talking to me or to remind me to just be present with him. The countless times
I have disrespected him and my time with him as well as my friends…
Since I am not ready to give up Facebook completely, I
decided to compromise and delete Facebook from my phone. I did download the
Facebook Messenger application because I use it at work and to connect with
people at the gym but I don’t get push notifications (I never did with the
Facebook app either).
It felt good to set a new boundary for myself and to
exercise some discipline. It’s been two or three months and surprisingly, I
haven’t had the slightest temptation to download the app back onto my phone. I
know not everyone can do this. So many people I know have jobs and careers that
depend on social media and Facebook is usually a big piece of that. My
suggestion would be to find a way to limit your screen time. Limit it to a few
hours a day during “peak” hours or schedule your posts using some kind of productivity
app. If that’s just not reasonable, find something else that consumes so much
of your precious time that could be spent on more meaningful tasks. How about giving
up the TV on weekdays/weekends? Or how about giving up videogames during
certain times of the day? Just free up a little more of your time so you can
focus your energy on something that truly fulfills you like connecting with
people, nature, and yourself.
Maybe you’ve done something like this already…What did you
give up and how has your life been different since you let go?
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