If we're honest with ourselves, I think the majority of us are guilty of spending too much time staring at our phones. For me, checking my phone and social media became a habit rather than something I was enjoying. Don't get me wrong, I love Instagram, but after aimlessly scrolling for hours seeing each new picture as it was posted, I really wasn't getting any enjoyment out of it.
In the end I would start to get annoyed at myself for feeling like I needed to check up on it so frequently, it was becoming a reflex action. But worse than the constant scrolling of Instagram is the flicking between different social media platforms - from Facebook to Snapchat to Instagram and then back again. Really, what's going to change in that space of time?!
A few months ago I decided to make a concerted effort to step away from my phone - literally. I'd purposely leave it in a different room so I could resist the knee jerk reaction of leaning over and checking up on the digital world. Around the same time as I was deserting my phone, Estée uploaded her 48 Hour Digital Detox video. Granted, her detox was far more extreme than my own, but it certainly encouraged me to start making more little changes to my lifestyle.
In no way am I trying to make out that social media is the devil, far from it in fact. All of the things that I love - Blogging, Instagram, Youtube - wouldn't be possible without it. I just think that sometimes we all need to take a step back to focus on our reality, rather than glimpsing the best parts of someone else's and comparing it to our own, which is completely unrealistic.
At the end of the day, I'll never stop admiring mouth watering food on Instagram, or laughing along with one of my favourite vloggers, or binge watching Gossip Girl - which, side note, I've only just discovered, where have I been?! - but I have found a real benefit in taking more time to be present in my own life. It could be as simple as reading a book, having a phone free family meal or taking a walk, anything that gets you away from the screens that surround our lives nowadays. It's all about finding that healthy balance.
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