Social Media Declutter is a conscious step taken to protect your health and well-being online. The digital detox aims to give you a break from the constant scrolling, comparison, and notifications. Youth nowadays are logging out from social media to restore attention, well-being, peace of mind, and to protect a real sense of self in the overstimulated world. Addiction to social media has become common among people of all age groups. If you are aware enough to realise that it is taking your precious time, then logging out can be a step forward. Of course, in a world that now revolves around screens, it is a little difficult to cut off from social media. However, during the period you are logged out, you can adopt better habits to use social media only as a tool.
Social Media Clutter
To declutter, we must know the clutter.
- Information Overload: Too much information and sources of entertainment are present all over social media. This can lower our attention span, fragment our thoughts, and cause decision fatigue.
- Digital Noise: The quality of content ranges from excellent to poor. Most of the content is just trending digital noise. It can only feed nonstop nonsense.
- Algorithms and Dopamine: The dopamine rush from the algorithm, likes, comments, and shares gives temporary validation but not real emotional support.
- Loss of Real-Time Presence: Through social media, there is virtual interaction, which is mentally scattered and disturbed.
- Emotional Drain: The comparison, FOMO, validation, and attention-seeking on the internet leave you emotionally drained.
Psychological Reasons for Decluttering
Constantly being on social media drains you physically, mentally, and emotionally. This can cause mental fog and fatigue. Decluttering can restore mental clarity and help you make better decisions.
Decluttering can transform your journey from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to JOMO (Joy of Missing Out). This can bring a positive change in your perspective.
It disturbs the mind, causing irritation and sleep disruption. There could be confusion about performing for online approval and living authentically. The online personality can be very different from the offline presence. This can cause fragmentation in the thought process.
Some Ways to Declutter:
Logging out: A conscious disconnection from social media. Not necessarily deleting, but adopting a temporary break. Some other ways are to remove the app from the phone, practice digital minimalism, unfollow multiple and unwanted accounts, have screen-free weekends, set screen time limits, have phone-free morning hours, replace scrolling with hobbies, and temporarily deactivate social media accounts.
Benefits of Logging Out
There are several benefits to logging out of your social media, from improving your mental health to better investing your energy and restoring your health.
It can reduce stress, anxiety, and confusion, making thinking clearer with an increase in focus. Emotional Grounding: It reduces comparison and gossip, increasing self-acceptance and reconnecting to our inner selves. The less we consume, the more we create. The energy that was spent on consumption is now diverted towards creation and creativity. The time that we used to waste on doom scrolling can now be best utilised. You can connect with friends and people around you, make better connections, and foster healthy relationships.
You can practice mindfulness, live in silence, and reflect more on your thoughts and beliefs.
Digital Detox In Practice
There are many digital detox retreats organised in natural habitats to encourage people to live without social media for a week. They have various activities like reading, hiking, camping, and yoga. Nowadays, we have cafes especially for digital detox. Here, devices are not allowed. There are hobby areas where you can either paint, write, or read books. They serve delicious food with doses of digital detox. Some researchers are conducting a study on the effects of digital detox tourism.
This shows that people are becoming aware of their health and are taking necessary steps to reduce their screen time.
Challenges in decluttering
- Restlessness: In the initial days of detox, there could be symptoms like restlessness, reaching for the phone subconsciously, and feeling anxious.
- Fear: You can also observe a fear of missing opportunities, a fear of disconnection, and a fear of loneliness.
- Pressure: There can also be pressure to use the phone or social media while being on the path of detox.
How to Overcome the Challenges
Either you take accountability by yourself or make someone your accountability partner. This will keep you on track. Be honest with yourself and your journey. Accept the symptoms; don't try to repress them. Repression can make the situation worse. Acceptance can lead to transformation.
You can journal your detox journey. It can help you in understanding your patterns and degree of dependency. Be disciplined, but don't row your boat in guilt. Guilt will only result in a waste of time. Many times, people become more desperate towards the use of their phones after detox. They take it as a temporary solution and an excuse to use social media more now. But it is time to curate your feed. Be more conscious. Set boundaries with the use of social media. Follow creators who nourish you rather than drain you. Use it, but don't let it use you. Avoid brain-rotting content completely.
In today's world of digitalisation, a social media detox is a powerful step towards self-care. You don't need to abandon technology, but you only need to be conscious of your connection. Social media is both a dark and a brilliant thing for mental health. –Fearne Cotton