One new experiment I am trying in January 2018 is to not look at any social media (including steemit and any web forums like reddit/etc) while I am inside my house.

https://i.imgur.com/DjhCnlU.jpg

This is a weird rule that I have never heard of anybody using before. I think it’s fucking amazing for reducing social media usage in a useful and easy way. This may be counterintuitive, but give the idea a chance.

<h3>The Problem With Social Media</h3>

Social media is a generally useful and positive thing with one major flaw: It sucks up your attention to create profits for itself. 

Regardless of the platform - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and many more - they are ultimately attempting to get enough of your attention that a percentage of it can be sold off to the highest bidder. (Steemit is an exception, though it is addictive for different reasons)

If a booze manufacturer or TV show or new brand of boutique smart mattress wants to whisper something in your ear, they do it via social media most of the time these days.

That means social media is designed to make us addicted… and you probably already know that. The question is: “What do we lose when we become addicted to social media?”

A lot of grief is given to the idea that smartphones distract us from our day-to-day lives out in the world. We’re called zombies for all staring down at our screens from time to time. This is a problem for some people, but it’s not the big issue.

The real problem IMO is that social media addictions rob us of our quiet moments. These happen more often at home than anywhere. 

<h3>The Uneasy Boredom That Leads to Incredible Creativity</h3>

You know when you get bored/tired/feel that mild depression coming on, so you grab your phone and check Steemit or Facebook or whatever?  Those moments are tragic. That slow uneasy boredom is exactly where you need to go to make good shit happen.

The moment of uneasy boredom is when the musician picks up the guitar, the architect pens a new design, the developer solves a difficult blockchain conundrum. 

It’s the birthplace of the flow state - how often does a four hour creativity explosion start from a few minutes of bored reflection? For me, it’s always the best way. When I start playing music or writing after feeling bored, I become grateful for the activity. 

That gratitude and joy infuses itself into the work, at least some of the times. I get excited and energetically pursue wonderful new sounds and ideas. The art comes to life in this great creative mindset.

**Social media addictions destroy these uneasy moments of boredom, and thus destroy the resultant flow states.**

For me this is the huge curse of social media.

Therefore - by only using social media outside of the house, I can’t get in the habit of burning hours scrolling through the same few feeds… It becomes impossible to lose even one night to the siren song of the social media addiction.

On the other hand, when I’m out working at a coffeeshop or even just getting fresh air in my front yard, I am welcome to get those dopamine hits from Facebook. No big deal.

As long as I stay active and do fun, new things, I won’t be tempted to stare at my phone out in the real world. When I protect myself at home, social media is fangless.

<h3>So Far So Good</h3>

In my first few days, I feel amazing. This is making a very real difference - the days feel fuller, I feel more refreshed thanks to all the slow moments I’m able to enjoy without a social media temptation nagging in the back of my head.

I’ll report back if this continues to work for me… it feels like it may become a lifelong habit. We’ll see how the experiment goes as the honeymoon phase fades out.

Do you have any tricks that you use to regulate your social media habits?

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