Resolution #1: An Attempt at Fixing my Attention Span

Me, Tin Rementilla, social media maven (wow) since discovering Myspace and Friendster in 2004, is starting the year with a social media detox.

After several failed attempts over the past years, I finally deactivated both my Facebook and Instagram. I couldn't at first since being in Marketing, I kind of have to be updated about everything going on in the world wide web, but on the 2nd day of January 2018, a day after my 28th birthday, I had enough reason to do it.

One of the main reasons I decided to do this is to discipline myself to stop wasting too much time on social media. I've wasted so many hours of my life on my bed, scrolling through my feed and watching people's instagram stories. Did that contribute anything to my life? Not so much. Could I have done something more productive like read a book? Definitely.

Last 2017, I've only read 2 books. Can you believe it??? Of the 365 days, I was only able to finish 2 books, each taking MONTHS to finish. My attention span has been so bad, that it's actually affecting my comprehension skills and my performance at work. I get that itch to check my phone when it vibrates during meetings. I also do the really bad thing of checking my phone while crossing the street which should have been the cause for my demise. I have an addiction and I must stop it once and for all.

Social media also kind of ruined being in the moment of things. I can't remember how many hours I allotted to choosing the perfect filter, posting a photo and waiting like a fool for my friends to like and comment --- hours I could've spent being in the moment of that photo I was trying so hard to perfect.

My job/s still require me to be online so I still need to be on social media. I created a Facebook account for managing Facebook pages and I still have Twitter to be updated about news, etc. I kind of wish I was in an industry where I can totally detach from the internet (like a mountain ranger maybe) but I know that's hard in this day and age when even churches have Facebook pages. You can't run away from the internet.

And so I leave you with this article from my good friend Stef. It talks about the contribution of the toxicity of everything we see or read online and how it contributes to the growing trend of anxiety and depression in the world. This only confirmed my resolution to quit Facebook for 2018. Read it here.