This Is What Happened When I Reduced My Screen Time
By: Carlos Hidalgo
Tags: Mental Health, Social Media, Emotions, Screentime, Anger

This Is What Happened When I Reduced My Screen Time

The impact of the continual news cycle and social media on mental & emotional health

Photo by Rami Al-zayat on Unsplash

I saw the text come through and upon opening was met with a blaze of commentary about a political figure. The text was a screenshot followed by “Dangerous idiot. Malevolently incompetent”. This is one of many texts I have received from friends, in addition to numerous Facebook and Twitter posts. And lest you think I am judging, I have been guilty of doing the same . . . until recently.

Over the last few weeks, I have taken the steps to remove myself from the cesspool of continual negative stimulation that is social media and news applications — a 28% reduction according to my Screen Time app. Not bad considering my mobile device also serves as my office phone and many of the apps I use for my business.

I have turned off all alerts, I have deleted the news apps from my phone, I do not watch the nightly shows, read no opinion pieces and over the last three weeks have posted only one picture on my Facebook and Instagram. I have even greatly curtailed my use of LinkedIn.

Since I have made that choice I have noticed big changes and was able to share these with my friend who sent me the text. Here is what has happened since I have reduced my screen time.

I Am Less Stressed

My wife and my therapist remind me from time to time that the body keeps the score. Since becoming attuned to this, I have certain physical cues that tell me I am stressed long before I am mentally aware of being so.

I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders and there have been times where my stress level has been so high, it causes pain and numbness. During the course of my social media and news fast, I have had none of these issues. I am not feeling the stress or anxiety that would often follow after reading numerous news stories, polling data, or engaging in fruitless conversations about politics and philosophy of life on various platforms.

My body and its physical reaction are telling me that my stress level has severely decreased and the only major change I have made over these three weeks is eliminating the toxicity that are often found on these platforms.

I Am More Mellow

The other morning over coffee, my wife commented that over the last few weeks I have been more mellow, I had to agree as it has not escaped my notice either. I have found that since I have largely disconnected I am more thoughtful, more purposeful in my day-to-day actions and even my driving has become less aggressive; rarely exceeding 5 miles over the speed limit, a first for me.

I have enjoyed that my life and my mind have slowed down and been able to focus on things that are more valuable and life-giving. I am beginning to think that mellow suits me quite well.

I Don’t Miss It

My nightly routine used to consist of having a news show on as I would make dinner. The binge would continue after a brief hiatus and would often be one of the things I would watch until I fell asleep. My excuse was I did not want to be ill-informed; it was the best one I could think of.

I can tell you that during these three weeks, I hardly feel ill-informed and even more so I do not miss it. I am keeping up with my friends and close relationships and I have removed myself from what is often continual negativity and strife, which is better for me emotionally and mentally.

Nothing

As I told my friend yesterday over text, no matter what happens between now and November 3rd, it is not going to change his mind on what he does with his ballot. And this is what I have discovered, the biggest change has been; nothing. The world is still a broken place, we have talking heads and people on both sides of the political aisle claiming they are right and damning those who disagree. We have erratic weather patterns, mask mandates, those who oppose mask mandates, religious zealots and the list goes on. It has not changed and it is doubtful that it will any time soon.

Drive down any interstate for any length of time and you begin to see how angry our society has become. It is easy to say the apocalyptic events of 2020 are to blame but the anger problem in America has been documented for quite some time.

Regardless of the reasons why we all have a choice in how we respond to certain situations and people. Additionally, we can also choose to remove ourselves from those things which cause mental anxiety and stress. Perhaps taking a break from your screen is what you need — try it, you may realize some benefits of your own.