Giving Up Social Media Diary Day 1

9:40 I am barely an hour into this trial and already I'm feeling twinges.  I need to find some alternative activities to replace my reliance.  I wonder if it would have been better to have come up with more of a plan rather than impulsively starting the trial on the spur of the moment.


10:40 I keep finding myself straying towards Twitter in particular.  I have deleted the icon from my phone.  The interesting thing is just how strong the craving is, coupled with just how ingrained it is as a habit.  I have a feeling this is going to be as hard to give up as anything I have ever given up in the past.  Of course, in a sense I am cheating by keeping this diary, because in a way this a form of social media too.  I haven't decided whether or not I am going to post it or not, but if I do in a sense it is exactly the same as being on Twitter, just indirectly so.  I think I'll regard it as a sort of nicotine patch - a way of partially addressing my cravings to make it easier to conquer them.

13:30 Here is one thing I have done that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't been avoiding social media - I have just organised my podcast feed to deliver exactly the podcasts I want right now.  This was basically because I had the phone in my hand and I found something to do with it instead of catching up  on my social connections.  Actually, I feed rather good about it.

18:20 This is interesting.  I have already done more actual work than I usually do by this time.  I will reward myself with a bike ride.

21:35 There is no doubt about it.  I am addicted to social media and I am suffering withdrawal  symptoms.  I keep going through the motions of looking up stuff on my phone or on my browser.  Of course an addiction to something harmless is not such a big deal as an addiction to a drug or a pattern of destructive behaviour.  But even so, it is enlightening.  I am also very curious to see if anyone has noticed my absence, and especially if they have commented on it.  My first thought was to put a post up on Twitter saying what I am doing.  My logic was that I wouldn't be able to go back during the trial period without admitting to the world that I had no willpower.   This is still valid - indeed it is the only thing that has stopped me tweeting already.  But it has the downside that I want to see if anybody has replied.

The surprise is that my brain is still working on stuff to fill my social media streams even though I am not allowing myself to commit them to writing/images.  I am surprised at just how much brain power I am still giving over to it.

The good news is that I have done several things today that I would not have done had I spent my normal amount of time on Twitter.

Giving Up Social Media Diary Day 2