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Using Social Media on the Desktop Only – Results So Far

One week ago, I deleted all social media off my phone and only been using some of the them through desktop only.  This means that I’m spending less time doing mindless scrolling and wasting time on it because I’ve effectively reduced picking up the phone at odd times at the expense of doing other activities such as talking (and paying attention) to conversations with my husband, reading, journal writing, knitting, and doing other jobs around the house that need to get done.

It’s been interesting to see the results of it. Here’s some observations:

Firstly, I feel as if I’ve got my attention and focus back (this happened quite quickly) so can sit for a longer time to read books.  Also I pay attention to what people are telling me.  This means that I can concentrate on what they’re telling me without my mind going to ridiculous thoughts such as, “Oh, I need to Google that to find out if that’s really the case.”  I can also ask questions to them without having the need to check the phone.  Sometimes it’s just good NOT to continually YouTube or Google things to fact check what the other person is saying.

Secondly, I have noticed FOMO sneaking in.  I have been missing out on finding the latest news, updates and announcements happening in the field of learning or indeed, Microsoft so feel as if it’s put me back in some way.  This is a constant fear I’m fighting because it means that if indeed, I want to keep up-to-date, I have to allocate sit down time at my desktop – or just sit down to use my mobile devices –  to do this.

Thirdly, I’ve noticed that there has been a reduced amount of online notifications, online conversations, likes, retweets and shares of all my posts across every social media platform.  I can only imagine that many people are simply swamped and overwhelmed with stuff nowadays that it feels like you’re talking into a void.  Does this worry me? Sometimes. More so the fact that it can only mean that what I’m sharing is of little value and people are already following their cliquey groups.

On the other hand, my natural inclination would be to share more BUT I’m trying to do the opposite to what I would have done in the past (and got myself in a tizzy just to keep up) instead, changing it entirely by doing something completely different and sharing something I have never shared before.  Daily Aussie Slang for a laugh (and which has gotten new voices into the mix and I think people enjoy it).

The Aussie Slang has been both educational for me (to find the idioms and their origin but also learning about equivalents from other countries).

It seems to be working because I’ve been getting positive feedback from people!

Fourthly, I have reduced time to experiment with new tools and apps (because it’s done at desktop NOT phone) and retweeting content (on the other hand, I’ve had more time to experiment and work on 1 or 2 things at a time as opposed to many things). I find I have to manage my time really well and effectively, time block it to focus on one thing only.

Fifthly my mind is a lot calmer and clearer in the mornings because I reach for my book or a journal instead of the phone.

Sixthly, I take photos and videos of things in my day but cannot immediately share them therefore, I reconsider the point of sharing them.  Instead, I have to edit the photos or videos on my phone that I create, transfer them to my desktop and then share them to social media.  So the immediate, “in the moment” sharing does not happen leaving me time to just enjoy the moments and process them on my own first without needing to have others “be there with me at the same time”.

Overall, I feel like I have more time on my hands and I’ve been feeling a lot happier.  To some people, they may think, “why did you have to remove social media from your phone?” Well, I didn’t need to but what I had to do was break the habit of constantly picking up my phone to “be elsewhere” other than in the moment.

I still have some way to go though but it’s a start!

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