After resisting a cell phone until well into 2006, then acquiescing to a smartphone in 2008, I now find myself to be a full-blown smartphone, social media addict. I recognized the problem last summer during the 2012 Olympics when I failed at my attempt to stay uninformed until the nightly NBC coverage. I just couldn't stay off my apps!
My phone app social media cycle includes:
Email
Instagram
Pinterest
Facebook
Linked In
Twitter
Goodreads
Learnist
I am juggling 4 identities for some of these apps: 1 personal, 1 professional, 1 political and 1 now for this blog.
I may have recognized the problem over 6 months ago, but I still haven't solved it. I still must fight the urge to check my phone obsessively all day long- I'll stop to take a look while preparing dinner, attending my daughter's ice skating lessons, and even going to the restroom!
I first tried instituting a daily schedule. I would only check my phone while having my morning coffee and lunch, while waiting in the pick up line for my daughter and after bed time. This didn't work- having that much exposure made it more difficult to resist the urge between times.
As my New Year's Resolution this year, I decided to uninstall all of my social media apps from my phone each Sunday night and not re-install them until Friday evening. I only publicly announced this intention about Facebook.
Week 1- What a novelty. I loved the freedom. All the laundry got done and the family's lunches were packed each night before bed!
Week 2- I popped on to Facebook Friday morning instead of waiting to the evening. This is now the "rule." I replaced Facebook with an obsession for Goodreads on my PC and entered over 500 books I've read in my lifetime and wrote over 150 reviews for those books.
Week 3- I reinstalled Instagram and Pinterest on Thursday to make the wait for Facebook easier.
Week 4- I started sharing things on Facebook through other media, but without visiting the site.
Week 5- I started peeking at my husband's phone and looking at my profile. I didn't uninstall Goodreads, Instagram or Pinterest during the week and used them frequently. I became a more reliable blogger and Twitter participant for my professional identity.
Week 6- I reinstalled Twitter and started hashtag gaming again- something I'd stopped before the holidays.
Week 7- I started creating content for this blog we started planning a few months ago. I logged onto Facebook in the name of this blog. I peeked around at my profile and my friend's profiles. I reinstalled the Facebook app on my phone on a Tuesday. I stayed up until midnight looking at political jokes about the SOTU on Twitter. I snuck over to my husband's bedside table to peek at Facebook newsfeed of our circle of friends on his phone. I could barely wake up this morning to exercise.
So here I am- faced with a true addiction. I must learn to manage it.
My phone app social media cycle includes:
Linked In
Goodreads
Learnist
I am juggling 4 identities for some of these apps: 1 personal, 1 professional, 1 political and 1 now for this blog.
I may have recognized the problem over 6 months ago, but I still haven't solved it. I still must fight the urge to check my phone obsessively all day long- I'll stop to take a look while preparing dinner, attending my daughter's ice skating lessons, and even going to the restroom!
I first tried instituting a daily schedule. I would only check my phone while having my morning coffee and lunch, while waiting in the pick up line for my daughter and after bed time. This didn't work- having that much exposure made it more difficult to resist the urge between times.
As my New Year's Resolution this year, I decided to uninstall all of my social media apps from my phone each Sunday night and not re-install them until Friday evening. I only publicly announced this intention about Facebook.
Week 1- What a novelty. I loved the freedom. All the laundry got done and the family's lunches were packed each night before bed!
Week 2- I popped on to Facebook Friday morning instead of waiting to the evening. This is now the "rule." I replaced Facebook with an obsession for Goodreads on my PC and entered over 500 books I've read in my lifetime and wrote over 150 reviews for those books.
Week 3- I reinstalled Instagram and Pinterest on Thursday to make the wait for Facebook easier.
Week 4- I started sharing things on Facebook through other media, but without visiting the site.
Week 5- I started peeking at my husband's phone and looking at my profile. I didn't uninstall Goodreads, Instagram or Pinterest during the week and used them frequently. I became a more reliable blogger and Twitter participant for my professional identity.
Week 6- I reinstalled Twitter and started hashtag gaming again- something I'd stopped before the holidays.
Week 7- I started creating content for this blog we started planning a few months ago. I logged onto Facebook in the name of this blog. I peeked around at my profile and my friend's profiles. I reinstalled the Facebook app on my phone on a Tuesday. I stayed up until midnight looking at political jokes about the SOTU on Twitter. I snuck over to my husband's bedside table to peek at Facebook newsfeed of our circle of friends on his phone. I could barely wake up this morning to exercise.
So here I am- faced with a true addiction. I must learn to manage it.
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