Are you a social media hound? Do you live vicariously through others? Do you suffer from FOMO—the fear of missing out? Without realizing it, have you succumbed to Silicon Valley’s must-be-in-the-know hype and algorithms designed to keep you attached to their social media platforms?
Then it might be time for you to unplug, turn off, scale down, disengage and tune out! It’s time to experience JOMO—the Joy of Missing Out!
The research—
Study after study seems to conclude that our digital device habits are making us physically, emotionally (and often spiritually) sick. Eye muscles, brain re-wiring, neck pain, headaches, shortened attention span, depression and the emergence of the new “tech neck” neck wrinkles are just a few associated ailments.
You’d tend to think it’s teens and college kids who are the sufferers. And they are. But evidently adults—on average—spend four hours a day on their social feeds. Catching up, tuning in, watching, watching, watching and updating.
I think it’s time for all of us to do some self-examination on why we’ve managed to get ourselves hooked on these sites and be ruthless about taking some digital detox time.
Make some changes—
While it may be easier to initiate a new practice on the weekend, I want you to at least be paying more attention to your social media habits, recording your usage time, being mindful of why you’re updating, watching and reading and then trying some of the following tech-free activities, especially when you get the urge to check your social feed on your phone:
- Go for a Sunday drive WITHOUT your phone. Or shut it off and throw it in the car trunk. Stop for lunch some place and enjoy a nice, relaxing, lengthy meal without snagging your phone from the car. (Daydreaming really is a lost art. Or chatting with the waitress.)
- Set a timer to alert you to when you’ve spent an hour on your social media and then turn it off immediately when the timer dings.
- When you feel the urge to open Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or any of the other sites, take a meditation moment instead. Then make sure you don’t go to the site after the meditation.
- Plan for a tech-free vacation and leave your computer, tablet, etc. at home.
- Select a tech-free room in your house, where computers, phones, tablets, etc. are off limits. The bedroom would probably be the best place because it would help you get out of the harmful habit of reading emails or the news online just before you switch off the lights to go to bed. You’re sleep will improve. Trust me!
- Embark on a connection-free vacation to a WiFi and cell-phone connection-free location. A co-worker of my husband’s says he travels to a special place in Indonesia because there’s no WiFi there, and the company can’t connect with him! Be thinking about where you could go and really leave it all behind.
- Stop giving out your email address and phone number to everyone, or every store or organization that asks you for it, so you can receive notice of new offers and special sales. You’ll save money.
Experience the joy of spending some uninterrupted time with yourself, with nature, with others, with your Creator.
Experience the joy of daydreaming again.
Experience the joy of tech-free freedom.
Improve your emotional, physical and spiritual health.
Stop obsessing over what everyone else is saying about the world situation and their lives.
Thousands of generations before us did just fine living tech-free. Really. In many ways they did much better. Maybe it’s time for us to go backward in some areas and defy the tech revolution!
And while you’re reducing your tech and social media time, shut off the television.
There’s certainly not much joying going around on that device.
Share your journey—
If you’ve been able to slay the FOMO, tell us what you did to accomplish it!
And tell me how much you’ve been able to reduce your social media time in a week.
NEXT WEEK: Was Jesus a philosopher?
Until then,
Experience what joys life has to offer you (the ones you’ve been overlooking) when you’re missing out!
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).
“No social media” photo by The Arizona Beehive