When and why to detox from social media

Social media is a cross and a delight: we would often like to get rid of it but we cannot do without it within twenty-four hours. Social media is that place to create a story
around our banal daily life, taking care of a more or less truthful logbook, depending on
of cases. It’s as fun and liberating as it is suffocating and claustrophobic – we’re bombarded with news, constant confrontations, and occasionally unpleasant commentary. Social media, even if used sparingly, are often a constant trigger warning and our mind is affected.

Escaping from social media sometimes requires, depending on the urgency, a real forcing: if you feel that they are taking away the air, making your days worse rather than enriching them, but you can’t help it, it may be useful to suspend the account and give a new password to some friend or family, in order to prevent you – even if you want – to log in. Extreme, I know, but for some * it worked. Lorde can also confirm this.

But what to do once we are “off” the screen?

1- Walk in the open air
Ok, I know what you are thinking: another person who advises me not to look at the phone and create contact with nature. It’s a huge cliché, I agree with you. But if it is a cliché, it means that a part of the truth has it: walking without keeping our eyes on the screen allows us to look at a reality in motion that does not require any approval to welcome us. We can notice the details, feel imperfect in public, and even go unnoticed with no filters or the anxiety of instant gratification.

2- Cooking (better)
I cook badly, but what is certain is that if I do it with the iPhone in hand, I cook even worse. Too busy checking retweets to watch the timer and notice that the omelette sticks to the bottom of the pan and the pasta is badly cooked. Lovers of cooking or not, focusing on your plate without constant distractions can allow us first of all to pay more attention to how we cook and and possibly eat better. Above all we can avoid crashing the iPhone on the stove (based on a true story).

3- Protect yourself
It is important and right to stay informed about what is happening in the world, it makes us aware and not dormant in a bubble. But perhaps we don’t always need to know about the umpteenth homobitransphobic or racist aggression to be present: among a thousand people who claim justice and publicly denounce what is happening, there are others who are still metabolizing a trauma, recomposing the pieces of themselves, and not they can – like it or not – welcome videos, news, or hate comments. It is good to take time to detach, heal wounds, and preserve our mental health.

4- Take some time for yourself
If you have the opportunity and do not fear grasshoppers, you can dedicate yourself to all those activities that you have once seen on Pinterest but never put into practice: cultivate a vegetable garden, buy new plants, bury some seeds. Most of all, dip your hands into the ground, touch the grass, and compose a bouquet of flowers. If you really don’t want to get your hands dirty and cottagecore is not for you, read that book you have kept on your bedside table for a lifetime, watch that movie you’ve been procrastinating for too long, or take the right time to rework your thoughts and leave room for your complexity . The pressure of social media is not there, and now you have all your time to ask yourself the right questions and provide you with answers without the insistence of a notification.

If you ever reactivate your account (because yes, we know you will) at least you will have some
extra awareness. First of all, that there is an alternative and you can always pull the plug
when you want.