I remember being at the park everyday in Queens, NYC in the late 1990’s early 2000’s exploring all the nook and crannies, playing on the swing, skateboarding, volleyball, socializing.
How did I know when my friends and I would meet up? Go to their house and make it a habit to meet at certain places.
I felt aware and less dependent in everything around me. Even living in a ONE bedroom with 5 people when migrating to NYC from Algeria, I had the best of times because I used my Imagination. My family didn’t buy us new toys or watched t.v. with us. Instead, we took trips when possible, ate great food, played lots of games, and read a TON of books. Our apartment was a library thanks for my parents who have been professors for a very long time growing up.
One of my greatest memories as child coming to America are all of the road trips my family and I would take in our Ford Aerostar. My middle sister would sit in the passenger seat as my father drove and she had on her lap either a printed Mapquest or a thick map book. We typically traveled down to Virginia from NYC or to Vermont where both of my sisters attended college.
I am so grateful to have grown up and had a childhood with minimal interruption. Sadly, our new generation of kids worldwide even in third-world countries are impacted by a manipulative, commercialization social digital wave. I am reminiscing on the past to remind everyone to take a step back and remember not to be consumed.
I want to share with YOU how I recognized I was being sucked into this black hole and ways I disconnected:
Step 1: Physical Pain and Insomnia Symptoms
I started having small physical pain (eyes, hands, headaches) from texting and consistently looking at my phone, texting, scrolling, swipping. As I became more involved in Whatsapp groups, Instagram, Snapchat, I was honestly so tired of switching to different applications that had different uses. As you know, I am a technology consultant at heart, so I was always thinking about the user experience, how to consolidate and be more effective in my day to day routine.
Instead of reading a book at night, I would spend time on my phone. I wouldn’t sleep well and when I woke up the first thing I did was go over messages and social updates.
Step 2: Recognized my goals
I decided to quit social media because I had goals that I knew would be time consuming to achieve.
1. I wanted to go to graduate school in which I had to take pre-requisite college courses even though I already attained my Bachlor’s degree. I ended up graduating with a Masters in Technology Management in 2017.
2. I wanted to work across various communities and forums in my job outside of my day to day work. I ended up being the Co-Chair for our Middle East North Africa Forum in one of the largest consulting companies in the world, on top of taking several certifications, courses, networking, working full time as a contractor.
3. I wanted to be in a more deserving relationship. I wasn’t happy with how I used to follow my now ex-boyfriend and want to post pictures of a fake relationship.
Since I knew I wanted to reach these goals and since I knew social media was time consuming, I reached an agreement with myself to completely delete everything 3 years ago. I did NOT even SAVE anything! I had Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook. I even told my friends respectfully that I will remove myself from Whatsapp groups.
Step 3: Dealing with After-math
The first 2 months I looked at my phone and I felt as though I had NO use for it. I felt like I did not have any friends any more. I became completely bored. That is when I realized how much more TIME I had and how I can leverage that time into Productivity.
I was very happy that I was able to push myself away from the fake world such as friends, corrupt media, holiday sales etc. I was so happy to know who was actually there for me. When you are consumed in social media, you really do not know who your real friends are. A simple “Like” or “Follow” button is not real. I soon realized who would check on me, call me and who wouldn’t. That is when I was really able to disconnect when I got over those feelings because it is all trivial.
The one social media account I kept was my LinkedIn account. This tool helped me apply to new jobs and I was able to get a fantastic job in the last few months.
Obviously now I had started a blog and YouTube channel. I have been contemplating going back to other social channels to grow my brand because I really don’t want to be consumed by how many people follow me and how many people like my content. I am at a point where I want to explore my passions outside of my work and keep growing personally.
If you experienced a similar situation or thinking of cutting off, feel free to reach out to me! Happy to talk it through!
This message can be very useful for any person at any age who is addicted to texting, following people on Facebook or other social media!!! It’s a very good input it has enabled me to reflect on my busy schedule and hobbies. Asma
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I love it. You have just given me goals for 2018.
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Thanks Rita! Wish you luck you got this!!
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