Learning to disengage

I’ve quit using social media for around four years now.

I’d say this is one of the rare occasions where I’ve made a right decision in life, as it really does benefit my mental health a lot by allowing me to disengage from the information boom that tends to stir rage and eating away my already limited attention span.

I no longer end up in a state of emotional fatigue caused by social media, and have more time to do other more fulfilling things, such as what I’m doing here now: blogging in my own website. In turn, I’m also able to create rather than consume, as well as self-reflect.

However, sometimes I still can’t help but turn back to social media. I would look at WhatsApp statuses that friends and family have sent (which nonetheless isn’t really a lot), or browsing a (public) Facebook page while having to fight against the annoying login wall, and — even worse — looking at the comments section under a Facebook post despite knowing that it’d only do more harm than good, especially when the post discusses politics.

It also seems like I’m not alone in this regard; see this post by Revol.C and this post by JN for examples, both of which are written in Mandarin Chinese. They and I share some of the reasons that lead to this decision, such as being curious about certain friends’ recent activities, browsing content of interest that is only available on social media platforms, or simply just to kill time.

In a similar vein, I’ve recently read a blog post by Kev Quirk talking about reducing screen time on smartphones. In the post, a particular sentence resonates quite a bit with my situation:

We just need to have more willpower and not pull our phone out every time there’s a moment of silence.

Yes, willpower. Learning to disengage is a long game, and requires consistent willpower. It’s inevitable that a void would appear within our minds and lives at one time or another, but it’s up to us to decide how we should fulfil it. There are a lot of healthier ways to enrich, to connect, to enjoy. Social media is rarely, if not never, a good option.

It’s even okay to just stop constantly keeping track of what’s going on out there; embrace JOMO, and focus on what matters instead!

Well, I’ve written this much, but I have to follow my own words, or it’d be merely all talk. Hopefully I can do better in positive disengagement, thereby improving my general wellbeing.