15 Jul 5 surprising things that happen when you log off from social media
We’re all aware of our growing addiction with our smartphone. We won’t leave the house without it and in most cases can’t go an hour without checking social media. You might think that you NEED to check up on your friends every couple of hours but, in reality, you’ll be fine without it. We decided to log off from social media and here are five things that we found:
#1 You feel less anxious
Social media has been rapidly overtaking our lives as an average user can end up checking their smartphone up to 150 times a day. This habit proves that our generation is growing a dependency for our smartphones as strong as our need of basic and essential needs like food.
It might seem harmless but it could actually be the reasons for your depression or anxiety. A new study published has linked this persistent use of our smartphones with higher rates of anxiety and depression. Another found a correlation between heavy Facebook use and depressive symptoms, including low self-esteem.
#2 Your happiness increases
Do you sometimes envy your friends for their posts on social media? It has been proven that social media makes 7 million Brits feel sad and excluded as they look at their friends’ perfect lives online.
29% of UK children have started to feel that their parents don’t listen to them properly as they believe that their priorities have shifted, placing social media, calls, emails and texts higher up than their own children.
Once you log off from social media you find that you stop getting wrapped up in your friends ‘perfect’ lives and get a chance to spend quality time with your loved ones. The retreats we offer at Time To Log Off have been shown in a study to increase happiness and this would be beneficial for you and your family.
#3 You have more free time
Social media clearly has control over parts of our lives. The average user logs 1.72 hours a day on social media alone. Another 69% of UK children say their parents spend too much time on their mobile device at home and 60% of UK parents believe their child does the same.
With 80% of smartphone users agreeing that checking their phone is the first thing they do in the morning, you can really start to see the power social media has over us. 95% of adults in a US study also admitted that going on social media is one of the last things they do before going to bed.
All of these statistics highlight how much time we spend glued to our digital devices. Going cold turkey and cutting out all tech might seem daunting, but logging off from social media frees up 1.72 hours EACH DAY for you to spend time with friends and family.
#4 You get more done at home
Children and teenagers are more and more involved with social media and 40% of teens do not complete homework because of time spent online.
A link has similarly been found between extreme use of social media and poor academic performance. Putting a ban on social media results in you having more time for homework and in turn improves your academic performance.
#5 You become more attentive
The act of just receiving a notification, even if we don’t respond to it, is enough to severely distract us. Likewise, our attention spans have significantly declined since smartphones existed and we now normally lose concentration after eight seconds, which is, in fact, lower than a goldfish.
Now, before you argue that a decrease in attention span is made up by our increased ability to multi-task, Research from MIT and others, proved that multitasking doesn’t work – because the brain doesn’t work that way.
Go get your digital detox!
Logging off from social media could be the first step in trying out a full-blown digital detox. Even if you’re not interested in the retreats we offer, you should definitely try out our 5:2 Digital Diet and check out how you can change your habits for the better – to become a healthier and happier you!
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