My 90s / Y2K Summer Updates & Lessons Learned
Wow! It's already the end of October! I feel like this summer has flown by. However, when I reflect on my summer, I am full of good and happy memories. I also endeavoured to incorporate novelty into the season, which helps me remember what I've done, hopefully for years to come.
Before I get into the 90s/Y2K, I wanted to give a quick life update. I actually haven't sold my house yet! We had it on the market from August until now, and we seem to have missed Regina's housing boom. But, I am not worried about it. Jared and I are moving to a family home, so there isn't a big rush to sell our house, thankfully. I feel really lucky to be in a situation where I can wait for the right time. I'm actually kind of excited to spend another Halloween here, and perhaps Christmas! I'm a firm believer that the universe guides you where you are meant to be, and perhaps we are still waiting for the right person/ family to come along! But - if you are looking for a bungalow in an established neighbourhood across from an elementary school and backing a park, let me know, haha!
In terms of practice updates, I am still virtual for now : but hopefully will have a new space to settle into in the next little while.
Now, on to the tech free summer updates.
I think that I certainly tried my best to be as diligent as possible to stay off my phone (re: social media) this summer. One of the first things that I did on this journey was install a widget on my homepage of my cell phone, which helped me monitor my usage of the apps on my phone. In that widget, I can also set timers for use of each one. So, I set a 30 minute timer on my phone for the apps that I wanted to decrease my time on, to monitor and reign in my social media use. I will say, it wasn't above the average usage by any means, but I thought a 30 minute timer would be a reasonable goal to strive for.
A lot of the time, I would adhere to that 30 minute limit. It would automatically turn off the app, and I could stop my sessions at that time. However, I found that it was easy to adjust the allowable time, or ignore the timers altogether. I then started trying to give myself consequences : if I ignored my timers / limits on instagram, I would delete the app and go along my merry way. Until I downloaded it again, and restarted the cycle.
Then, once the app was deleted, I got a clearer understanding of my triggers to re-install a social media app.
The timer was too easy to bypass
I would download it during a chronic pain day when I didn't ave the capacity to do anything else/ needed a pain distraction.
A friend would send me something, and I couldn't see it on my phone, so I would re-install the app.
*As some of you know, I have endometriosis, and that's the chronic pain condition that I have : which is why it's such a passion of mine to help other women too!
I also learned that I am not missing a lot when not on IG, and that I enjoy the days where I am not on it bettwer as a whole.
I also noticed that social media was filling a small gap in my schedule: little increments of time between patients, in the waiting room at the doctors office, etc. were slowly filling up my timers, almost without me realizing. So, even though I was trying to use it for less than 30 minutes, my 5 minute gaps would add up to my 30 minute limit before I knew it, so when I wanted to sit down and use it for recreation, I would delete the timer as I felt I hadn't really used it.
Generally, I am highlighting what I need to improve, but overall, I think I was fairly successful at reducing my screen time. I had a lot of days where I didn't feel sucked into social media, and I feel like my brain is slowly healing from it's need for constant stimulation and dopamine via short form content. I've spent time in my own brain, and as a result, have been a little more creative. I've continued reading and am well on my way to reading 50 books this year. During my 5 minute breaks, I'm getting up to stretch, or pet my dog, or make a cup of tea. My house has also been much cleaner as I will do a quick 5 minute tidy, or small task instead of reaching for my phone. So, there have been a lot of successes - and I truly implore you to try it for yourself.
Reflecting on My Values
However, I think for my life I want to be even more distance from social media, as well as more boundaries with my time.
So, I decided to pay for an app to block my social media. (Gasp!) This has really helped me so far from reflexively opening an app. Because if I do, it automaticaly blocks and closes it for me. This has really helped me identify when I repetitively opening apps mindlessly (which is definitely happening, I know that I am breaking a habit.)
The monetary piece of this is also really interesting, because I feel by paying for a service- in this case - an app. I am more likely to stick to the plan I feel it really does help me prioritize what I want.
My biggest takeaway from this entire experience has been: I've found that will power alone is not enough to stop my brain, so I needed that extra accountability - which has really made a big difference.
Anyway, this app is not easy to bypass. I permanently disabled my social media on my phone for a full year. Now if I post online, I'll do it from my browser on my computer. I'm not limiting myself from using it on my desktop : I have some saved recipes that I like and I want to be able to access them. However, I am so much less likely to sit down at my desk and scroll on my computer, as that isn't my regular habit. However, if it becomes an issue, this app will let me block my desktop as well. So, now I can access those recipes or watch a few videos, but I am really unlikely to scroll on my work computer, so I think I am on the right path.
During this journey, another thing that impacted me deeply was simply doing a calculation about how much of time my social media usage currently takes and how many hours this is forecasted to be if I remain on the same path.
My 30 minutes a day comes out to the following calculation:
30 minutes/ day x 365 days x 50 years ( Average life expectancy in Canada is 82).
= 547 , 500 minutes /60 (hours)
= 9125 / 24 (hrs in a day)
= 300 days
300 days! Almost an entire , full year of my life, of the 50 remaining years , spent online, scrolling.
Then, the scarier part. When you take into account the average screentime for Canadians outside of work is:
3.8 hours for youth
3.2 hours for adults on leisure screen-time.
(These numbers are likely under-reported)
So, for a 40 year old adult that could mean
192 minutes/day x 365 x 42
= 2 943360 / 60 /24
49 056 hrs /24
2044 days!
if you put that in years, that is 5.6 years of their lives
So, it really changes my perspective on "free" media. Although these apps are monetarily free, they are taking a non-renewable resource : your time. Now, my data may be slightly skewed because I'm not counting TV, movies, or any non-phone or work screen time - only my social media time. But, seeing it this way, it really makes me want to continue to be mindful about how I spend my time going forward.
I'll keep you updated in a year or so to see how this experiment goes. I'm sure I'll have more challenges on pain days, maybe I'll have some fear of missing out, maybe I will be super bored on a road trip. But, I think that friction will bring me closer to my ideal life.
I heard a quote "If you turn off your phone, it is the 90s outside" : and I sure like that.
Until next time,
Dr. Larissa
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