Sometimes I take some time away from social media and that always does me so much good. I have a drawer that is lockable. And i put my smartphone, my ipad, the keyboard, and the mouse of my I mac into that drawer. Then i put the key off the drawer in a small bag and i put the bag into our car. I live on the 4th floor so that works pretty well for me.
It sounds crazy- right? But it is such a good ritual for me. I only do it now and then and mostly on the weekend or during a vacation.
If i catch myself getting too addicted to my phone i plan to put the phone away for 2-3 days. And it feels strange at first. I tell myself i am doing a „cold turkey“ media detox. And then all of a sudden i have time on my hands. I don´t know what to do. And then i reach for a book or i play the guitar.
And it´s such a great feeling it almost makes me sad. Because i realize that i do spent way too much time with my screens.
I feel it makes such a difference if i have the option to check my phone ( i turned it off and put it in the next room – because i don´t want to use it in the next hours) then my thoughts still circle around the possibility of checking my messages or statistics of my latest youtube video.
Whereas when my phone is in the car, far away, those thoughts stop. And i don´t have to fight the urge to go check my phone.
All of a sudden i start doing different stuff. Analog stuff. Reading a book. Playing the guitar. Even cleaning the apartment. And it´s so good. I feel spending some time without any digital tools helps me minimize my addiction to social media. I think there are different levels to it. If i can´t stop looking at my phone i prescribe myself a social media detox.