3 advice on being less distracted

one thing i really wanna dive into more is my relationship with my iphone and social media. i talked about this in an earlier post, about the negative aspects of our digital tools. i am not against social media or against the digital world we live in. i am in fact a tech nerd, and i am proud to call myself that.

i am in fact more against wasting my time every day on less important things, or more specific -

i am against putting off the essential acitivites because less essential digital activities take up too much space.

which means, if i make time for the important things every day, i have no problem being on social media or watching an anime at the end of the day, but in small doses.

my first advice: try a social media free month - this fall of 2020, i decided to take a break from social media. so i went offline the whole month of november. the first week was pretty hard, i was feeling a lot of resistance of not scrolling away on all the platforms but i slowly started to feel less and less of that resistance. in the end of november, i didn't mind not looking at the endless posts of content at instagram. now i feel less distracted and more focused. i feel more present.

my second advice: schedule your social media time to a minimum - in december, when i allowed myself to go back to social media, i set this rule to only login to social media on saturday mornings, 20 minutes. i have read that you only need 20-30 minutes per week to feel that satisfying feeling of connection. (i used to spend around 2-3 hours per day on my phone.) if you want to access social media everyday, then schedule 20 minutes in the evening for social media. this is not as effective though.

my third advice: delete your social media apps on your phone - perhaps it's hard to stay away from the social media apps on your phone. everytime i got a bit bored, my brain went on autopilot and logged into instagram. i wasn't making an active choice. so i decided to delete all my apps on my phone. deleted apps: facebook, instagram, pinterest, tiktok. instead i use my laptop on saturdays and i feel like i value more what i see now. (when i became a minimalist, i reduced my apps on my phone and deleted accounts for tumblr, twitter, snapchat, etc).

bonus advice: turn off all those notifications on your phone - you don't need those. but this advice alone is probably not gonna work. but it's gonna make you feel less distracted.

Be you but not in that way.

Ignite showed up on youtube this november, and i'm kind of slow right now so i haven't been blogging about it until now. been down with a cold so i've been resting and watching anime and just chilling.

I have started writing songs (more like recording every melody that comes into my head) and i have to say that it's easier to write songs when you do it as often as you can. the more you create, the more creative you are. that's why i really don't believe when people say that they are "tired and not inspired" and that they wait until they get an idea. it's all about consistently creating. the trick is to decide a time and place, sit down and start creating. i promise you will create. if you create something good - then that's great! if you create something poopie - then too bad. at least you've created something. and after many creative sessions your work will get better and better.

Ok, didn't mean for this post to be about creativity. The song "Ignite" is about me realising i wanted to have short hair on one halloween night when i dressed up as "L" in "death note", (haha). It's also about doing what you want to do, being true to yourself even if other doesn't approve of it. i use to call it rebellious practice. when you do something that you really want that goes against the norm (not something illegal or something that can injure a person), you grow as a person. you start to live a life according to your own terms. it can be as little as getting a tattoo, getting a body piercing, changing your name, picking up a new hobby. lastly, i think this lyrics was very hard to write. it's hard to put my feelings into words sometimes, but it's all about being consistent.

IGNITE LYRICS

staring, reflection of me

in the night

mirror, this is what i see

in the light

feeling,

this is who i am

i belong

freedom,

i'm finally there

i am home

to come home again

you know it

it's not play pretend

we are here to mend

ignite the fire inside!

it's in our heart

beacons inside never die

right from the start

even it feels so breathtaking

holding you closer

i'm learning to see all again

be you,

they say it's ok

problem solved

be you,

but not in that way

not at all

changing to something i like

my own way

painting the colors inside

it's OK

to come home again

you know it it's not play pretend

we are here to mend

ignite the fire inside!

it's in our heart

beacons inside never die

right from the start

even it feels so breathtaking

holding you closer

i'm learning to see all again

Is social media bad for you?

Hello from a dark and cosy December day! Do you remember that I've talked about spending less time on social media and more time in real life? Yes. The book that inspired me is called "Digital Minimalism" by Cal Newport. Newport talks a lot about the negative effects social media has on our brains. He describes our phones as slot machines, you just keep scrolling and refreshing the pages to see what you get.

Here's the scenario. You post some pictures or videos to see if your content gets any likes. Instead of looking up from your screen, you are constantly looking down. It's very addictive, like a new kind of smoking. According to science studies, mental illnesses are increasing because of this, and social media is designed so we can continue clicking and staying as long as possible, because that's how they earn their money. Perhaps some people believe that social media and apps are a fun gift from the tech nerds, but that's not the case. We are in fact the product here. Ever heard of this quote?

"There is no such thing as a free lunch".

I will most definitely read this book again, because it made me think about my own habits and my own relationship with my iPhone. It made me confront my behaviour of logging in to instagram whenever I am bored. It made me realize that I don't need to spend so many hours a day on social media. Because it can never replace social activites like talking with a person in real life. Social media is not in fact social but you get a sence of connection. There is a different between social interaction and feeling connected.

Will talk more about this and will also share some practial tips on how I reduced my social media time.

(*＾▽＾)／