These platforms are addictive by design
On 4th of October all Facebook services went down. That was the same evening I finally decided to get rid of all social media apps on my phone. I haven’t completely deleted my accounts (yet) but I have not used the services even on computer. It’s been almost a month since that day and there are some positive and negative things I’ve noticed.
Spending time
I have never been very heavy user of these apps and spent usually between 30 minutes up to 1 hour a day using them. Usually the usage has been mostly scrolling the feed like a zombie. Now that it’s over, I have more time do more productive things like talk and play with the kids, read books and news, write this blog and exercise. Overall it feels like I have more time for myself and it really feels empowering.
Concentration boost
Since all notifications from social media apps are gone, it’s possible to concentrate more easily. Actually it has led to a situation where I try to minimize all other notifications, like email or instant messages, as well. I think I have unsubscribed more email lists past month than ever before. Also I’ve taken the Focus Mode in use on my phone during work days to take this even further. If there is…