A Student's Guide to Life Without Social Media

 If you're like me, you're thinking Why would anyone ever want to go a full day without social media? 

That was exactly what went through my head when I heard that I needed to stay off of social media for 24 hours. I thought it would be terrible. I thought it would be boring. I thought it would be impossible. It was none of those things. 

Whether you're considering leaving social media for a short time or you just want to hear about an incredible experience, keep reading to see what my 24 hours taught me!

Benefits I Realized

• More time spent pursuing my hobbies
• More quality time spent with friends
• Better mental health
• Better physical health

1. More Time Spent Pursuing Hobbies

Between school, homework, and extracurriculars, I often feel like I don't have enough time left for the things I love to do. 

From my 24-hour social media fast, I learned that if I don't spend hours scrolling on TikTok or Instagram, I have a lot of downtime to spend pursuing these interests. 

In one day, after spending 7 hours in class and 2 more doing homework, I was still able to:

• Start reading a new book
• Work on a creative writing project
• Play basketball at the gym
• Work out
• Work on my Photoshop skills

2. More Quality Time Spent With Friends

When I hang out with my friends, it usually leads to all of us sitting in the same room together, scrolling on our phones and not talking. Has that ever happened to you? These instances leave me thinking Could we even entertain each other if it wasn't for social media? 

While I was staying off of social media, I encouraged my friends to do the same during the time we spent together. We went to dinner together, ate our meal without anyone scrolling on their phones (halleluiah!), and I felt like we actually spent some quality time together instead of just existing. 

3. Better Mental Health

Like many teenagers and young adults, I have a tendency to: 

• Compare myself to others on social media
• Constantly want to know what other people think of me 
• Try to look "perfect" on social media
• Spend endless hours mindlessly scrolling on social media

But these aren't healthy practices. They don't make anyone feel good mentally. We're not alone; even celebrities feel this way. 

Only a few hours into my fast, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I didn't feel so much pressure to look perfect. I didn't care what random people online thought of me.

Throughout this experience, I learned that cutting back the amount of time that I spend on social media does wonders for my mental state and helps me to criticize myself less. There are more important things in life than the Internet, and spending less time online allowed me to see and explore those things. 

4. Better Physical Health

Before this experience, I would spend hours on social media to the point where my screen time would be around 6 to 7 hours a day. 

I would be awake much later than I should've been each night because I was on social media. 

I wasn't pursuing healthy activities because all I wanted to do was be online. 

Can you relate to any of these things?

When I wasn't allowing myself to scroll, I noticed that:

• My screen time was much lower
• I didn't find myself having headaches from staring at my screen
• I got more sleep at night
• I was more active

Throughout this experience, I learned that if I spend more time off of social media, my quality of life will improve. Cutting down my screen time will allow me to get less glare induced headaches. More sleep will help me function better in classes and at work. Lastly, I'll spend more time doing active things, which will help my body for years to come. 

Challenges I Faced

• No music from a streaming platform
• No TV from a streaming platform
• Hard to remember to stay off of social media

1. No Music From A Streaming Platform

If you're like me, Spotify doesn't immediately stick out to you as a social media platform. But it is. 

I don't know about you, but I love Spotify. I use it:

• When I have downtime between classes
• While I'm driving
• While I'm working out
• While I'm doing homework
• When I'm hanging out with friends
• When I'm relaxing in my room

It was very challenging for me to stay away from this service. I missed my playlists, the ability to choose what song I wanted to listen to, and the overall convenience of the platform. The radio gets the job done, but it's just not the same. 

2. No TV From A Streaming Platform

Just like Spotify, Netflix and other video streaming platforms are considered social media. Crazy, right?

Similar to a lot of students, I like to unwind after a long day by watching my favorite show on Netflix. 

It was challenging for me to stay away from this platform because binge watching shows is something I like to do when I'm stressed, tired, or just needing a break from reality. I couldn't do that in this case. 

Like most students, I don't even have cable, so I had no choice but to spend the whole day TV free. It was definitely difficult. 

3. Hard To Remember To Stay Off Of Social Media

About half of teenagers and young adults say they are chronically online, and I am no different. I use the Internet for a wide variety of reasons, including:

• Keeping up with current events
• Keeping up with friends and family that I don't see every day
• Doing homework
• Keeping up with celebrities
• Listening to music
• Watching TV
• Reading online books
• Reading emails
• Online banking
• Shopping
• Scrolling through social media platforms when I'm bored

I had to actively remind myself not to turn to social media to cure my boredom during periods of downtime throughout the 24-hour fast, which was very challenging. I couldn't even scroll throughout TikTok while eating lunch like I normally would!

At times I caught myself unlocking my phone and just staring at my home screen blankly after realizing that I couldn't utilize any apps. It was definitely very difficult to try and break the habit of always being online, especially as a part of a generation that has never functioned without the Internet. 

In The Future

Even though I struggled a bit with staying off of social media, I believe the benefits are worth the challenge. 

Because I found this experience so enlightening and helpful, I will be making some changes to my online habits. 

My future plan:

• Limit screen time across the social media platforms I use the most (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube) to a combined 2 hours per day
• Limit screen time on other social media platforms (excluding Spotify, Netflix, FaceTime, and iMessage) to a combined hour per day
• Limit myself to 2 episodes of a show on Netflix per day
• Do at least 1 active thing per day (go to the gym, play sports, take a walk, etc.)
• Pursue at least 1 hobby per day
• Spend quality time with friends (no social media while hanging out) at least 3 times per week

By implementing these changes, I believe I will be able to improve my mental and physical health while strengthening the connections I have made with my friends and spending more time doing things that make me happy. As a student, I think this will be really helpful for me, and I am excited to begin my new journey!

For The Reader

If any part of you finds it hard to live a life that is completely centered around social media, I recommend trying out a fast and seeing what benefits you realize from it. 

If you decide that you want to try and cut down on the amount of time you spend online or on your phone, that's great! Feel free to use any steps of my future plan that you think you'd find helpful or look through these ways to limit social media usage and screen time!

I hope you were able to learn something from my experience, even if it was just that you'd rather not go 24 hours without social media (I understand!). Do what works for you, and remember, keep being amazing!