No social media for 28 days - Week 2

I thought I would approach this week differently by not breaking down my challenge day by day. Instead, I will summarise it in three key areas - YouTube, habits and the Zeigarnik Effect. 

Clarity.

To be clear, the reason I choose not to break down the blog by days was quite simple - you would have read the same things of me not accessing X, Facebook, Reddit and Mastodon.

If someone said I could never have access to them again, I would say, “Sure. No problem.” I don’t miss them at all. I go through this same pattern each year and each year I delete my accounts. This time, I’m going to keep them active and let them remain idle if I decide to take a longer break from social media. 

I mean, originally, I only recreated a Facebook account to look at the market place. I haven’t used it, so I don’t know why I have the FB account in the first place. 

X is just a cesspool of lies and tech/finance bros chatting nonsense. It got to a point where I would post a Pinocchio gif (the one where his nose grows, of course) at the absurd posts on the platform, hence my prompt to go on the social media ban. I don’t want to be that internet troll 😅 

My biggest challenge is YouTube. I use it for specific reasons. However, I continue to waste hours on there instead of actually doing the job I should be doing. It’s like pseudo productivity. 

YouTube

I want to start with an exact from yesterday:

It’s very clear now that I have a YouTube issue, not a general social media issue. I am absolutely fine without social media. However, YouTube is another beast of its own, which I want to conquer. I don’t understand why I struggle so much with it. 

The content is the same as every other video I have watched. It is the same, but presented in a different way. At least I am noticing the shit and closing down the video. The problem now is the quick dopamine fix, looking for another video to spark interest.

So, from the 6th to 8th November, I accessed YouTube for a maximum of one hour on each day. It was intentional to some extent. I have some interests and health goals I am focusing on right now. I’ve read and listened to advice to help me along the way. The videos on YouTube to support me were great. I am a visual learner, so these videos did what would take days through other media. I am now wondering if I am making a big deal out of nothing or if is a big deal. That’s when I came across an old note in Apple Notes with a link to a YouTube video (insert irony here). I think the issue stems from something called the Zeignarik effect. 

The Zeignarik Effect

I don’t want to butcher the meaning, so please check it out for yourself. Essentially, I think my issues with social media are not directly related to the social media itself, but the open loops and unresolved tasks I have been putting off. These open loops are like background processes always running when you have everything else going on. A lot of cognitive load on top of everything else going on.

I have a lot of open loops, so social media felt like a form of escapism. However, I was not addressing the issues. I am in the process of tackling the tasks I have been putting off. Some required educating myself through research, reading, listening, and yes, a bit of YouTube.

I am now clear on the process I need to take - close these loops ASAP! Some will be delegated, some removed completely and the rest completed. Wasting time on social media / YouTube is not an option because it will keep me in the same cycle. That’s why I need to keep my habits in check while pursuing these open loops. 

Closing the loops will take a lot of work, grit and determination. I can imagine many, many hours will be consumed by them. Any leisure time will go out of the window and anything I deem enjoyable will have to go in the bin for now. By sticking with my habits, I am safeguarding some of my interests/enjoyments, so I am not discouraged along the way. 

Habits

One of the savings graces going into the next two weeks of my challenge is returning to work. Most people would think I am crazy for saying work is a ‘saving grace’ but let me explain. When I started the challenge, I was off work on my half-term holiday (a perk of being a teacher). I have had two weeks at home with nothing to really challenge me. Boredom has struck many times throughout these two weeks. I’m now back at work. There’s no time to get bored. It is work, work, work from now to Christmas. 

What is really going to help me will be the habits I am focusing on right now: reading, exercise, journaling and meditation. With whatever spare time I have outside work, these habits and family will be my only focus. I literally will not have time to sit and watch a YouTube video. Even though I mention working hard, sleep is not something I want to compromise in my adventure. I know late nights and irregular sleeping patterns would be a recipe for disaster. Sleep and taking my Wellman vitamins will continue. I have been tracking my sleep over the past three weeks. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be but I am more aware now of having rest days, pacing myself sensibly in order not to burn myself out.

As always, thank you for reading my blog.

Mark