Switch off Instagram and WhatsApp – your detox from social media starts now
- How do you identify when social media is becoming unhealthy for you? When you are allowing it to disrupt other areas of your life, says one expert
- ‘I would be scrolling for 10 minutes … then 30 minutes would go by,’ says one social media user who deleted WhatsApp and Instagram from her phone
With lockdowns and social restrictions worldwide stretching on amid the coronavirus pandemic, many people are using social media apps like never before. Some, recognising they are doing so to an excessive degree, have sworn off them for a time.
Chumbale says she feels freer since disconnecting from these apps, and adds that she does not miss always being available. “If people really wanted to find you, they call or email … you’re still reachable,” says Chumbale. “It has helped me focus more on my goals and what I want to do.”
She recently graduated from Christ, a university in Bangalore, India, with a master’s degree in psychology, specialising in human relations and development. Since the country’s pandemic-struck economy has shredded India’s job market, Chumbale has been unable to use her hard-won degree to make a living. She has taken up an internship in human resources at a technology firm to tide her over.
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That’s another reason she’s decided to switch off – it’s hard to see updates from friends about their professional lives, whether they are sitting in their office or boasting about a job promotion. “I know it’s not my mistake, but all that [content] makes me feel incapable and hurt,” she says.
“Because of the coronavirus, people are losing their jobs and, being a recent graduate, I am not getting any jobs,” she says, adding that she had studied very hard to earn her degree.
To fill her spare time, Chumbale has turned to a beloved hobby – cooking. “I help my mum in the kitchen. I’m always behind her asking her to tell me what to do,” she said.
Like any unhealthy habit, you must acknowledge if there is a problem. Wood suggests asking yourself if your habit is no longer positive or enjoyable, and whether you feel you are becoming unbalanced, obsessive-compulsive and allowing it to disrupt other areas of your life.
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Dr Joyce Chao Puihan, a clinical psychologist from Dimensions Centre in Hong Kong’s Central district, also encourages social media users to set a limit on the time they use these apps. “Is one or two hours a day enough? Everyone has to decide what is appropriate or healthy for them,” she says.
Chao advises her clients to be conscious of what they see on social media. “You have to have your own filter, like how email has a spam filter,” she says. People with many apps can easily become overwhelmed with information. Another common sign of overuse, she says, is if people around you are complaining about your habit.
“People go on social media for many reasons … some to socialise, some to escape. If you’re using these apps to avoid [other] meaningful activities, ask yourself why you are doing that,” she adds.
Re-calibrating your relationship to social apps can help you face anything that you have been avoiding.
There are ways to limit time spent on social media short of stopping entirely. For example, during work or social meetings, you can avoid using your phone so you can be fully engaged with what is going on, Chao suggests. “Sometimes, I have meetings and ask people to put their phones in a box” until the meeting ends, she says.
Both experts approve of digital detoxing. Wood says it allows users to spend more time being present with others, or in nature. “Their lives will become richer, more rewarding and fulfilling,” he says.