I Deleted Facebook Off of My Phone For A Month - Here's How it Affected My Life

Social media has a way of taking over our daily lives. We use it to stay connected with friends, family, and coworkers; to stay in the know of news all over the world; voice our opinions, and so on. So, it definitely has its pros and cons. One of the major cons I personally have is the negativity that can come from it. People feel more powerful behind a screen, and so they speak how they want about any topic. In which then, racism; prejudice; general hatred; and comparison comes to a head. At some point, it truly begins to take a toll on someone and their mental and emotional health.

For me, personally, I couldn’t stand the way people would just outright share their hatred for one another. Whether it be a matter of race, difference of opinions, or politics – it never fails to depress me seeing how difficult it is for people to just simply be nice to each other. I also found myself comparing my son to other children around his age. He was born a month early, so his development always concerned me. I would see how they would be doing things at an earlier age and he wasn’t even close to doing the same. When I realized that I was holding my child to such a standard, I knew that social media had officially become toxic to me. So, for a whole month, I deleted Facebook off my phone – since it was the one social media app I ever use. I didn’t expect to see much result, and thought my brain was just constantly pessimistic. However, once my month was up and I re-installed the app and was caught up, I deleted it again.

For a while, I would instinctively go to open Facebook, but would soon realize that it wasn’t there. It took about a week for that habit to die out, and soon enough I forgot about all it. I actually finished some projects that kept getting delayed, and looking back it was because I would start, then get distracted by Facebook. Whether it was an article I was interested in, or an update on a friend’s life, or entertaining memes. It happened without fail. Reflecting on it, I enjoyed more time with my family, and felt more connected to them. I also kept up more with my housework, laundry, and had more playtime with my son. In terms of my mood, I felt happier overall. Productivity for me was up, and it was because I felt lighter and less stressed out. I didn’t have the daily dosage of cynicism looming over me; I wasn’t staring at the accomplishments of other children and then proceeding to be depressed over what my child wasn’t doing; I wasn’t reading abhorrent, derogatory comments to one another … I was living my life with my husband and son. I didn’t feel as depressed; I was less anxious; less irritable; and I began to have more patience as a wife and mother, and as a person as a whole. I found myself becoming kind again, and thinking less that the world was filled with horrible people. Don’t get me wrong: I know that there are still terrible things happening around the world, and the sick and cruel people are still out there. But not seeing it 24/7 and focusing on the people around me made me realize that there are still good people. They just don’t get as much attention as criminals and the like.

I won’t say the complete removal of social media is for everyone, but I will say that maybe every now and again it’s good to take a legitimate break from it and breathe. I personally don’t think I’ll ever use social media in general again unless it’s for business purposes. I used to think it was essential to my life, but I’ve come to realize that staying in the know about everything is detrimental to me and my family. If you feel that your life has been consumed with negativity, then maybe consider a social media detox. It could change your life like it did mine.