WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I HAD A 24HR SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK

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 Photography by
JKG | jkgphotography.co.uk
Location: Balham, London

A few months back I woke up on a Saturday morning and decided I was going to have a 24hr digital detox. Yup - an entire day without ANY access to social media. No mindless scrolling, no IG stalking - nothing.

The urge to do this came out of nowhere. Simon was working, the weather felt mild and calm and I had absolutely ZERO plans for the entire day. I had been feeling a little all over the place and I guess I wanted to centre and connect with myself without any distractions.

I spend most days sharing, uploading, posting and scrolling on multiple platforms so I thought it was about time I tried life without doing so.

This is what happened!

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My Morning Poop Just Wasn't The Same
Sorry to take it there but I just had to. Having a poo and checking my social media feeds is legit one of my favourite things to do. I find it genuinely just as satisfying as my morning coffee lol. Not being able to that was really annoying and I had no idea what to do whilst I was y'know.. pooping lol. And yes I did that thing where you grab the nearest product to you and you entertain yourself with reading the ingredients label on the back. I KNOW YOU'VE ALL DONE IT DO NOT LIE LMAO.

I Cleaned The Entire Flat
Which by the way - I usually hate doing therefore I never do it lol. You know one of those satisfying cleans where you open all the windows, blast the music and then treat yourself to a sexy homemade brunch? That's exactly what I did. I suddenly had all this time on my hands so I thought I'd tidy and find homes for everything. I even cleaned the bloody floors lol. Without procrastinating by getting into Twitter beef lol - I finished cleaning in just a few hours.

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Kept Picking Up My Phone
WOW. It was as if my hands needed to be occupied and I found myself constantly fumbling to check my phone, and then becoming increasingly frustrated when I remembered I had deleted all social media apps. This is when I realised how addicted I am to my phone and that I need something else to entertain me - not just Gemma Collins memes LOL.

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Tackled Stuff I'd Been Putting Off
In the afternoon I decided to make a to do list paying specific attention to tasks I had been putting off. Things like editing a video, updating my blog shop, replying to emails, returning texts, taking the bins out etc. You know those small things that you're just always too lazy and too busy simultaneously to do? It felt really good to actually get shit done and shock horror - it literally took no time at all. Isn't it amazing what having your full attention on something can do lol?

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Felt Lonely & Bored
After I had done all the things I needed to do, I started to feel a bit lonely and bored. Simon was out and I had nobody to talk to so I just sat on my sofa and stared out the window wondering what other humans were doing (why am I so dramatic lol?). I rarely, if ever feel bored so I wasn't used to trying to fill my time without social media and other people. Although I love being alone, it really sank in how heavily I rely on social media to fill a void.

 

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Shop My Look

Fluffy Coat | Missguided
Red Fine Knit Jumper | H&M
Skinny Jeans | ASOS
Black Heels | ASOS
Furry Bag | Zara - similar
Round Lens Raybans

 

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FOMO FOMO FOMO
The fear of missing out. Why is it we believe something incredible will happen online and we won't be there to witness it? I honestly had FOMO over Twitter which I know is just ridiculous, but the feeling was bloody real. I don't even remember there being a specific thing I thought I'd miss but nonetheless I felt it. I had sudden bursts to download Twitter just to put my mind ease and I fought that with every ounce in me. I also had a slight worry that there was a terrorist attack and I wouldn't know about it? I guess that shows the state of the world and anxiety and worry that it can cause us.

Battery Life At Midnight Was 67%
Most days I have to constantly charge my battery, I even take a portable charger with me whenever I leave the house. But it turns out that when I don't use social media, I don't actually use my phone a lot and therefore the battery lasted a really long time. I felt like I had gone back to 2003 and I was using a Nokia 3330 just without Snake and a weird black and white screen.

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As the initial 'omfggggggggg I'm missing out and why oh why did I do this and I'm bored and I want to tweet and I wonder if anyone's posted a fire outfit photo to IG' thoughts and anxiety I had worn off I actually liked being productive and practising self care without my phone as a distraction. By bedtime I had had a really long bath, made myself a cuppa and was tucked up watching Person Of Interest on Netflix.

I also found it super interesting that by the next day when it was time to go back online, I didn't want to. I low key enjoyed having a social media free life and if it wasn't my job I really think I could live without it. I missed it yes, but I also felt less stress and generally just more grounded and content. I have recently fallen into a hole where I keep comparing myself to others and we all know how shit that can you make me feel. Without Instagram and Twitter I felt like I had more clarity of my life and the real world and it was a nice feeling to have.

I'm going to try and have more social media breaks in the future and since doing this I have actually done it again, but only once - which I don't think is enough. It amazed me how much I could do and how much mental space I had when it wasn't being filled with scroll scroll scroll...

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