I sadly believe that many people today will reach the end of their lives and regret living years of it on social media. Spending just one hour on social media a day will amount to approximately three years of your life (from age 13 to 80). Two to three hours — six to eight years. Four or more hours — eleven or more years!
Social media can be used for tremendous good. It can add value to our lives, but it’s about how much we use it, what we look at and share, and the motivations behind our use of it. And if we’re not careful, we can become engrossed in the lives of others while our own go neglected.
Everyone’s jaw drops when I tell them social media makes it possible for us to reach the end of our lives and have more memories of other people’s lives than our own. Yes, this fact should terrify everyone of us! Let me make my case: scrolling for two hours a day (at a rate of two seconds a post) can amount to viewing over 80 million visual posts (videos, photos, graphics) over 60 years — 80 millions moments from other people’s lives.
Pictures and videos imprint on our brains far more powerfully than unrecorded moments. So our minds can be more filled with details and moments from the lives of friends, strangers, influencers and celebrities instead of the beautiful moments from our own. Yuck!
One of the most incredible things about social media is that we can see what those we care about are up to and see moments from their lives. However, we need to be mindful of whose photos we are looking at. Following the lives of family and friends is different than following the lives of celebrities, influencers, and strangers. Now to the shocking truth.
I am determined to reach the end of my life and replay beautiful moments from my own life, not the intimate moments of others. I want my mind to be filled with scenes of time with family, friends, special celebrations and outdoor adventures. I don’t want my mind to be filled with fitness influencers in matching leggings and sports bras showing off their abs and toned bodies, or the latest drama between a celebrity couple. I consider that and insult to the God who gave me my precious, irreplacable life.
Here are 10 things I do to make sure my mind is more full of moments from my life rather than others, which you can implement as well. While my habits around social media are more extreme, you can adopt the ones that work for you.
1. Take one photo a day of a beautiful moment that sparks joy, and look at it for a few moments to imprint the moment in your brain
2. Play a digital slideshow that loops the bests memories of your life so you can see them every day
3. Don’t follow the accounts of celebrities or strangers who document their lives
4. Don’t look at the search and explore section of Instagram
5. Only regularly look at the accounts of few close friends and family members
6. Limit your time on social media to an average of 1 or less hours a week and use it intentionally
7. Don’t go on social media on the weekends
8. Don’t take vertical videos to post instantly on social media, but film them horizontally and make videos for you to watch for years to come
9. Look at more photos and videos of your own life than the lives of others
10. Make physical photo albums and look through them several times a year
I hope these practical tips will help you savor the gift of your precious life. I hope you’ll live wide awake to your own life and fall asleep to the lives of others. While there are many great things about it, social media is a world we were not designed to live in. Your best life will never be found on your phone. A life of joy, peace, and contentment awaits us when we unfollow the ways of the world and follow the ways of God.
If you want to overcome your addiction to or unhealthy relationship with social media, and live your best life offline, you’ll love my book Social Media Reset: A 30-Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God, and Reclaim Your Joy. And then invite all the girls and women in your life to join you!
I can’t wait for you to return to life as it was intended to be lived!
Action: Take a photo a day that captures a beautiful moment. Look at it for 10 seconds so it is imprinted on your brain.
With Joy,
Allie
P.S. This was a precious moment with Paul from our Big Sur Camping trip this summer.
