Ok - So my plan here is to remove social media from my life and start going to the gym every day for the next 90 days. Personally I’ve noticed that social media creates in me a lack of appreciation for my own life. I compare my life with others or I try to make my life look more exciting than it really is in order to impress people. It’s a soul sucking process that some people are able to work around but I’m not. Nope. What I can do is exercise! I was never really into exercise when I was younger but now I’ve really started seeing the physical and mental benefits to it and how much happier life is with it; I feel better and I appreciate myself more when I have it in my life! Yet, my issue is consistency! I’ll do good for a couple of weeks and then fall off. I’m here to challenge myself to stick with it. I think 90 days is a great start to making this a life long change.
How do you plan to reduce social media ? I wish you persistence and success in everything you want to achieve! After I ran a halfmarathon, I didn't lifted anything harder than a keyboard, and tonight I ran to my brothers training guide.. Hes doing 2 series of it, and I can't do even one, that pissed me off, and I hope I will start with training too
I deactivated my fb about 2 months ago and it has been great! I might activate it in January, but maybe not. I've been reading a lot more now that I'm not wasting time on there!
So far I’ve deleted/deactivated all of my accounts and have removed the apps from my phone. It’s only been one full day off of social media and it’s been pretty difficult. I find myself wanting to mindlessly scroll through feeds/walls. Thank your for the well wishes! For now I’m going to be using a recumbent bike and then I want to move further to weight lifting. I’ve never done a marathon so I think that’s an incredible achievement! I wish you the best on your training as well!
Well, today I deleted facebook application from my phone. I left only the messenger, because I keep in touch with my beloved people mostly by messenger, but no more useless scrolling through facebook feed ( nothing to be seen at all over there ). I don't have any other social media, and I will replace the facebook with some other meaningfull activities (even coming here on or reddit is more usefull than facebook) Hope I will hold on as much as possible (even forever)
2/90 - No Social media. 0/90 - Exercise I’m going into day 3 with no social media. I had a friend ask me today if everything was alright since he didn’t see my FB account up anymore. Today I plan on going to the gym. So far that’s been my biggest hurdle is pushing past the laziness and doing the hard stuff! I think this constant desire to escape/avoid pain is one of the major roots that fuels addictive behavior. The embrace of suffering must be where freedom and peace are found in life. Having the fortitude to do what needs to be done, regardless or the pain of discomfort. Awesome steps! I deactived mine so I could keep messenger since I have friends/family on messenger that I talk to on a regular basis.
3/90 - No social media. 1/90 - Exercise. Achieved my goal to go to the gym yesterday. Happy about that. I had another friend ask if I’m okay since I deactived my FB. Most have been understanding when I tell them I just need a break from it all. I think inside most of us want a break from social media, however, it’s become so ingrained in our daily life it’s hard to break. It’s kind of replaced the old habit of “checking the paper” for the daily hubbub: except now the reporters/journalists are our friends broadcasting the hubbub, lol. Anyway, I think one thing I want to mention in all of this is that I don’t view social media as an “evil” or “cancer”. I don’t have really any moral stance on social media, just on my own experience with it. I think when we make changes we should stay away from extremes so then we can be open to changes if they need to occur in our lives. While these past three days have been difficult, I feel a little better mentally. A little more appreciative for what I have in my own life. To me that’s progress in the right direction.
I have not had any presence on social media for two years. I have not had a smartphone for just over a year. This has helped immensely with my problem. This video pretty much sums it all up:
I’m happy to hear these changes have helped you in your life @RebootIan. I’ve seen that video before and I think it outlines why I’m taking a break from social media. I had become a zombie just mindlessly scrolling through feeds, not paying attention to things around me. I don’t blame social media for that behavior though. I blame myself. I let myself get this way. I know plenty of people who have social media in their life and are nothing like the people depicted in that work. I know plenty who’ve actually used social media to help others. It’s a tool and like any tool, if used properly, it can bring a lot of good. I’ve had a stent where I removed my smartphone, however, in today’s world it’s difficult to do. I’ve been working on creating my own business and I have my business partner and other people I have to be in contact with, scan documents, etc. If I didn’t have the ability to do this on my phone, I would feel very overwhelmed.
4/90- No Social Media So far no social media. I’m going to need to start over for exercise since I’ve been slacking big time.
6/90 - No Social Media After today, I will have completed my first week without social media. I wish I could say I have been doing more with my free time but I haven’t. I’ve gone out with friends and the rest of the week has been spent sleeping.
7/90: No Social Media Yay! One week down. One thing I’ve noticed is that while I still struggle with PMO, it hasn’t been as bad this week. It makes me wonder if social media was a trigger for me both in binging media and with the anxiety that came from comparing my life with others. I know there are deeper issues as well, but I feel this break from social media has provided me with some room to breathe.
That is great news, a week is fantastic. If social media is a trigger then staying away can only be a good thing. One of the key things as you say is living in the current moment, looking after yourself and getting far less of the ‘comparing to others’ feelings. I also wonder if flicking and scrolling mindlessly though (what is let’s face it) the tedium of other people’s banality could be a trigger itself. Even in my job when I’m scrolling through image banks to try and find a suitable image for a campaign I can feel I am in the danger zone. It is the filtering and seeking behaviour which is so closely linked to my addiction! Also just quickly picking up on your earlier comment, I wouldn’t say you are wholly responsible and social media isn’t. Indeed, not everyone is triggered, not everyone is a zombie, some can indeed use it for good. But you must remember that tech experts are employed by these companies to ensure apps and sites wire directly into the clicky clicky pop-up low-value high-dopamine part of the brain as much as possible to keep people coming back. This is the kiss of death for people with brains like ours. Finally, I get what you are saying about giving up your smart phone, and of course I would in no way tell you what to do, it is entirely your call. But, just so you know it IS possible... I am a senior marketing and communications manager and I manage to do my job at a very high level without a smartphone. Yes this is hard and out of the ordinary, but a sacrifice wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice if it was easy. I believe the benefit I get in life without one massively outweighs the perceived convenience of having a smartphone. I have a pc and laptop at work and a tablet for events, I do all my personal emails, eBaying etc on lunch and during work, website, reports, link building etc between working hours ... and when I leave the office I go home and unplug. Done. Good luck..
Gave up the Facepage years ago and don't regret it a bit. Mindlessly scrolling through peoples posts and attempts to romanticize their day was a mind numbing waste of attention. It becomes a reaction, a way to cope with boredom or social anxiety. Look at how many people alone in public want to look face down at a screen other than acknowledge all the strangers around them with eye contact. We feel out place or bored and the phone is a coping device just like a smoker alone in public stands against a wall smoking a cigarette to have something to do with their hands and not look awkward in public. Id say give it all up completely and don't look back. Scrolling through useless posts and photos isn't much different than scrolling through porn images looking for your favorites.
After a week disconnected from social media, I can say I’m more receptive to the idea of ditching the smartphone, @RebootIan. I’ve just purchased a laptop so when I’m ready to make that step, then I can do that. I know it’s possible and where there is a will there is way. My addiction, if anything, has shown me if I have my mind set on something and don’t doubt my ability to acquire it then I will obtain what I want. Right now my plan is to dumb down my smartphone to basically a flip phone that can play music. I’m pretty addicted to music, which may or may not be another thing I need to work on. I know some people think that might be extreme, but there has to be something unhealthy with being unable to sit in quiet room alone with yourself. God. I have a media addiction.
Guys, remember to take care of your food when you start going to gym. I mean that you should eat healthy food, otherwise you'll feel week, lack of improvement and really tired. You also need to eat about 1~2 hours before excersite. Food is extremely important when we exercise.
I am off the social media patforms including facebook,insta,twitter etc since August'18 and I believe that it has helped me a lot in every aspect of life.
I’m sure they could be if you were to spend all day on this site as a user. I guess I never saw NoFap as a social media platform since no one here wants to “network” with each other if you catch my drift? We’re all, for the most part, anonymous so that kind of makes networking impossible.
