Why I Deleted My Social Media Apps

If you are like me (well used to be) then you would have a list of obligations, approaching deadlines, pending emails, friends you haven't seen in forever, a house that needs your attention, your mind that could use some looking after, your body is begging for a jog or walk and something you need to study is probably laying next to you but you have "no time" to do all of it. My norm became this overwhelming to do list and nothing more. A few years ago I made this choice to choose myself and the paradigm shift that has caused grants a whole separate blog post but that very choice has lead me here. Even after years of practicing mindfulness and trying to be deliberate with my time I still fell so short on time. I had all of these great intentions such as: writing a blog post at least once a week, working out 3x a week, meditating everyday, getting all As in school, cooking dinner etc... but all these wonderful intentions remained as just that, intentions because I had "no time" for them. Here is when I get uncomfortably honest; I did have time I just chose to get on Instagram habitually and ended up on it for two hours; I did have time I just chose to get on Facebook to see what was new. I did have time I just thought it was easier to be sedentary and to watch other people live their lives. By these unintentional "harmless" acts I would wast 5 cumulative hours of my days on average! (If you think 5 hours is absurd and are judging me I advice you look on your screen time setting on your iPhone and it will tell you how much time you spend a day because you will be shocked as well).

You see I am a very intentional person but here I was still being so careless with my time (aka my life). I have so many goals, so many adventures, so much more life and passion in me that it would be a disservice to me to wast anymore time. I have in the past deleted my Instagram, Snap chat, and Facebook occasionally but never for weeks at a time. I would always be sucked into my old ways of wasting time and would download them again when I became bored, but I am here to tell you that being bored is so important. Being bored is what drives you to be creative, to finally put into action what has been swirling around in your mind, it is what urges you out of bed and outside to work out. It is what prompts you to pick up your phone to call a friend. I deleted my apps to become bored. Ever since I intentionally deleted my apps I am so amazed at how much time I have. I have been able to sit down and study. I have had the time to finally redecorate and transform our bedroom into a reflection of who we are and now I want nothing more but to be in our room writing, working out, meditating, and studying while sipping our beloved coffee and tea.

Not only has deleting my apps freed up so much time it has freed my mentality from the clasp of social media. We all know that people usually only post the highlights of their lives on media so only the graduation posts, #relationshipgoals post, the half naked celebrity posts but when and why did it become our norm? When did we choose to be exposed to these "picture perfect" posts day in and day out? Why did we think that seeing Instagram model after Instagram model would help our self esteem? Why did we think seeing these #relationshipgoals posts would give us a realistic and healthy view of how real relationships are? We have been looking for help in the same places that have hurt us. After deleting my media apps I can feel the constant pressures to have the perfect body, to have the perfect relationship, to have the best adventures and photos are finally lifting. I have been on wonderful dates with my husband and have not posted it. I have been on incredible adventures with my friends and have not posted it. I have been working out and have seen my transformation unfolding and I haven't posted it and do you know why? Because I am changing for myself. Not for my husband, not for an Instagram like but for me and the healthy lifestyle I want. People waste so much time trying to get the perfect photos, editing them, writing captions for them and don't even realize it because its become a social norm. However, it doesn't have to be. Life is so much more than a photo. Life is too beautiful for any well written caption and highly edited photo. It is too authentic, too real, too busy being great to have the need to share it to the world who is busy doing what everyone else is doing.

Once I got a taste of how wonderful it feels to be free of negative cycles I have started to break another... sleeping in so be on the look out for a blog post about the wonders of giving yourself more time in the mornings.