Browsing Tag

instagram

Posted on April 16, 2018

7 days with no social media: self-liberating or hell on earth?

Uncovered

This time last week, I committed to giving up social media for one full week. To answer your thoughts, I have not lost my mind – at least that’s what I like to tell myself. I had just  come to the realisation that mindlessly scrolling through Instagram was negatively impacting me in more ways than just one. My obsession with Twitter, an app that more or less promotes talking to yourself, was making me worry about getting relentlessly trolled and Whatsapp, although it doesn’t quit fit in with the other two, was a deadly poison for me.

In a nutshell, I had gotten to a stage where my vast majority of my relationships survived on an app or in front of a screen. Not in the real world.

I decided enough was enough, time to cut the cord and do something about what most would not consider to be an unhealthy addiction. As I briefly mentioned in my blog about being addicted to the gym, many people tend to associate the word addiction with alcohol, drugs and sex – if at all. Very few people consider the likes of social media or technology as something that can be an addiction even though there is an overwhelming amount of research to show that endless Facebook scrolling activates the same area of the brain as taking lethal drugs.

 

I don’t believe that social media addiction – or any addiction for that matter – is one to be taken lightly.  So this time last week, I decided to deactivate all the apps that reduced my level of productivity or generated feelings of negativity for me. This meant no Instagram, no Twitter, no Facebook, no YouTube, no WhatsApp and no Netflix (for good measure) for a full week. I didn’t ban the use of emails as I still needed to stay in touch with PR companies and brands, but anything that rendered me unproductive or didn’t help me flourish my mind or enrich my life, had to go.

No Instagram, no Twitter, no Facebook, no YouTube, no WhatsApp and no Netflix for one full week. Here’s how I survived….. 

DAY 1

My first day of waking up to zero notifications felt more like a relief than anything else. I felt unburdened by the usual messages and notifications that bombard my phone and mind. Since I didn’t have any WhatsApp messages to reply to, I didn’t waste any time lying in bed when I woke up. I got up for the gym at 9am and the after brunch, spent the day with the fam bam before getting stuck into some blog work. After having what I felt was a productive day, I struggled to fill the time that I would normally spend scrolling through Twitter highlights so I decided to hit the gym again in the evening – I know, twice in one day! I think it’s safe to say that day one with no social media was a success in the fitness department 🙂

DAY 2

I woke up as fresh as a daisy and well before my alarm since I had an early night – must have been wrecked from the two workouts! I had plans to spend the day with a friend who rescheduled for the next day so after my morning gym session and post workout fuel, I spent the day in Starbucks getting some writing done – over 16,00 words to be precise! When I got home, I filled the void with a 3 hour Joe Rogan podcast, which is always a learning experience for me. I then did some media prep before having another early night.

DAY 3

I hit the gym first thing in the morning – no surprise there. Then after my brunch, I met up with my friend and spent the day with him. I wasn’t spending the day exchanging voice notes with people I called my ‘friends,’ as I normally would. Instead, I was having a real life connection with a real friend which quickly made me realise that my over dependence on social media has been robbing me of my primitive desire to be around people. I want to say the third day of my social media detox was the day I realised I was a gal who didn’t need social media in my life…

Until this happened…..

DAY 4

While the first few days of my social media diet occasionally saw me instinctively picking up my phone to check for notifications, the reality of my situation really hit me after three nights of living in deprivation. On the third night, I had a dream – or shall I say, a nightmare that I was having a few  conversations on WhatsApp. It felt so painfully real until I woke up in the middle of the night realising I was suffering withdrawal symptoms. If that isn’t serious signs of addiction, then I don’t know what is!

DAY 5

In at an attempt to forget the WhatsApp nightmare, I decided to take another stab of teaching myself how to swim.  After months of living in a delusion and telling myself I would learn how to swim, I had gotten absolutely nowhere. One week of no social media and on the fifth day I managed to do three quarters of a length in the pool for the first time – I actually stayed afloat, kicked and stroked all at the same time! If anything at all were to come out of a no social media challenge, it is this!

DAY 6

Saturday. Usually the most depressing day of the week for a most singletons. But I went to the gym as per usually and spent the afternoon making a crap load of phone calls. The bulk of my day was spent with my mother before calling down to one of the girls. I had zero anxiety about not being on social media at all since I was around real humans outside my immediate family. No concerns about what Twitter trolls might be tweeting, nothing at all!  – but then again, why would I? I’m a pro swimmer now! 🙂

DAY 7

My last day of no social media saw me spending the afternoon in Starbucks,  editing the blog posts I wrote during the week. I planned for the week ahead and mentally prepared myself for rejoining the social media world. I saw another human being, which is always a positive but I’m not going to go counting my chickens just yet -WhatsApp is my first love, after all! 🙂

Reflecting on the past week….

As someone who usually spends the vast majority of time cultivating relationships on WhatsApp, I was surprised by how well I handled not being on social media for a full week – besides the weird dream I had mid-way through my challenge. Getting rid of Netflix in particular meant that I had early nights, which led to early mornings and increased productivity. I filled the time I would usually spend on social media with writing and focusing on various upcoming projects.

As for my obsession with WhatsApp? I dealt with it by spending a lot of my time connecting with  people face to face or making phone calls. Overall, my week was a massive success and rejoining social media today made me realise that I wasn’t really  missing much anyways! 🙂

I would 100% recommend it!

In fact, I may even make it a point to do this detox every couple of weeks. My overuse of social media was not only affecting my level of productivity, but it was also a contributing factor to my appearance anxiety. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I got a lot more done in the week that I refrained from using social media than I did in the two weeks prior to my challenge. But this had me in a better place both physically and mentally.

Have you ever done a no social media challenge? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Now that I am finally back on Twitter, you can Tweet me @FilomenaKaguako 🙂

Twitter Facebook Instagram

Related Posts

  • 10000
    Is it just me or does anyone else have a non-existent healthy eating regime over the weekend? As much as I try to lead a healthy life, I always find myself being a bit more lenient about my food choices as the week progresses and by Friday evening, any balanced…
  • 10000
    This time last week, I was absolutely dreading writing this article, let alone actually publishing it. But after having received one of the most heart-warming gifts by a very good friend of mine, of a framed certificate to congratulate me on completing 12 months of celibacy, I took it as a sign from…
  • 10000
    There’s nothing more annoying than spending so much time in the gym, doing calorie counts at a restaurant, avoiding all your favourite snacks and still seeing no results. Despite all your efforts and ability to maintain will-power for so long, the number on the scale doesn’t seem to want to…
  • 31
    Firstly, a massive thank you to everyone who entered my Bellamianta competition on Instagram and Twitter. It was incredibly hard to choose a winner (as always) but unfortunately there can only be one! A big congrats to Amanda Troy, I will be in touch with you so keep an eye…
    Tags: twitter, instagram, social, facebook, media
Posted on May 15, 2017

“You’re a frilly pair of knickers away from being a Bridget Jones” and other funny quotes about me!

vlog/ youtube

I was once told that I am overly concerned with using Instagram, taking selfies and eating Happy Meals. Although there was a time in my life where I would have found the truth in those words incredibly offensive, I can’t help but laugh at them today – especially since I can’t remember the last time I actually had a Mc Donalds!

Nothing humours me more than hearing some of the things people say about me and I’ve always made it a point to surround myself with people who never fail to have me in tears of laughter – it truly is the best medicine! So I’m about to give you a dose of that with some funny quotes about me – which may or may not be true.

Hope you enjoy my video! And remember, if you can’t laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at? 🙂

Twitter   Facebook   Instagram

Related Posts

  • 10000
    If you follow my antics on social media, then it's no news to you when I say that I've finally decided to take the plunge with YouTube and start my own channel! Starting my own YouTube is something I've been thinking about doing for the longest of time, but I've…
  • 10000
    https://youtu.be/rSav3uICRyE For my fourth vlog, I decided to share with you guys some of the funny stereotypes I got from people during my year of celibacy. From being accused of wanting to 'tighten things up' to being branded as a man-hating feminist. I pretty much got both  - if not…
  • 10000
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT8g2V4zgUA If you've managed to get your hands on the April issue of STELLAR, then you will notice that I recently did an interview with them that was all about born again virginity! In this video I talk a little bit about my first STELLAR feature last May - an incredibly…
  • 38
    Breakups suck. They really do. And whether it's the end of a romantic relationship or a platonic one, nobody enjoys getting rid of someone who played such a huge role in their life. That's why it's important to take necessary steps to ensure that you move on in the healthiest way possible.Yes,…
    Tags: time, help, i'm, people, things, quotes, twitter, facebook, instagram, hope
  • 32
    https://youtu.be/gVpIAiaOxGM This time last year, I shared my first ever YouTube video. To commemorate the moment, I've decided to read some of the funny and racist comments I recieved in the last year of being a content creator on YouTube. Hope you have your popcorn ready because you're in for…
    Tags: hope, twitter, instagram, facebook, funny, time, video
Posted on October 28, 2014

Do you like him or are you just obsessed with him?

Dating

obsession

I found out I don’t like him. I was just obsessed with the idea of him, even though I still want him.

– Anonymous

A normal person would look at those words and question the mental health of the speaker. But when those words were spoken to me, I had an ‘a ha’ moment.

It made me realise that a lot of the time, women are simply obsessed with the idea they have of someone. Sometimes, we become so hooked on the image we’ve created of our crush that it starts to look a tad bit like an obsession.

So this leaves me with a very legitimate question: do you really like him or are you just obsessed with him?

Here are some telltale signs you may be on the road to the land of obsession:

1. You can’t go a day without checking his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn (which you purposely set to anonymous) and all the other social media sites you’ve joined to facilitate your stalking.

2. Everything you think you know about him you’ve heard through a third party (in most cases, Facebook). 

3. Your social media spying has become a call for concern among your group of friends.

olivia boss chick

4. Can you even remember the last time you’ve spent time with your friends? Exactly.

5. His name comes up in every conversation (it’s still a mystery how a conversation about milk ends up being a conversation about him).

6. He is your first thing you think of in the mornings and the last thing on your mind before bed. He is basically wrapped up in every single one of your thoughts – and not in a romantic way either!

7. You’ve lost track of the normal things in life like taking a shower (I joke), but you do feel like you’re slacking behind in college/work.

8. You know his group of friends just a little too well (Remember: you were never introduced to them). 

9. The words  ‘If only he knew how perfect I am for him’ have become something you use on a daily basis.

10. You have continuous thoughts of marriage and what your kids would look like.

11. You seem to be the only person who can see things working between you and him.

12. Your friends tell you you’re obsessed – now if that doesn’t raise the alarm, then I don’t know what else will!

Hope you enjoyed this post! If so, be sure to check out 12 mistakes women make with men and 8 signs it’s all in your head. I also have another giveaway coming soon so keep an eye on the blog 🙂

Twitter   Facebook   Instagram

Back to top
%d bloggers like this: