Accidental Social Media Detox

Along with last weeks passport losing shenanigans, you may remember me mentioning that I also lost my phone - Whoops! What this has lead to is a phone-free week and a serious lack of Instagram...

Social media is such a time consuming thing.

It can be really useful for promoting things like my wonderful blog, but totally useless when you're trying to study, or sleep. I know I am not the only one who says 'right, bed time,' and then sits in the dark on their phone for an hour first.

Whilst losing and trying to replace my phone has been (and still is) a massive stress, what was quite surprising was how little I felt I needed it in the first couple of days.

I didn't mind not having my phone in my hands, or it pinging by my side every five minutes. I'd recently updated my iPhone to tell me how much screen time I use - I must say it felt quite refreshing to have a little break, what with my top apps being Instagram, Whatsapp and Email.

You would predict that the first few days would be the hardest to adjust to, and then your phone free hands would relax a little. For me, it's been the other way around.

The longer I go without my phone, the harder it seems to get. I was fine in the first couple of days, but it's been just over a week now and my withdrawal symptoms are starting to show.

My hands are getting increasingly twitchy and my craving for Instagram is strong.

The worst bit? I haven't phoned my parents in over a week.

I went to ASDA for a replacement phone yesterday, just a £10 little old school one with clicky buttons. Whilst the throwback of irritating ringtones and a very retro game of Snake were entertaining for the first five minutes, the phone doesn't actually work.

It's been a good tactic to satisfy my need to fiddle with something, without the full distraction of a working smartphone. But, the week must go on and the search for a decent functioning phone will continue :(

Despite the slight twitchy-ness caused by a lack of phone, I would recommend a slight break in your amount of technology usage. It's brought me to the realisation that I don't always need to know what the time is, or what the weather predicts.

It's been far nicer to wake up naturally rather than to the sound of an intrusive alarm every day. Having a social media detox is always something I consider doing, so it's been nice to achieve that - even if it was an accident.

It has made me a little more care free, and although it's rather an expensive loss, I'm appreciative of the reflective break...

... But now that's been done, I would like a phone now.

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The lack of phone has obviously contributed to my lack of social media presence, I will be updating my Instagram asap.

If you haven't already, please follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/ellasworldblog/ and here: https://twitter.com/Jones_E1123