Far too many people have an undiagnosed social media addiction, spending more time scrolling through TikToks and curated social media feeds than catching up with friends or bonding with family. What better time to address this bad habit than during summertime, when the weather’s warmer and the days are longer?
Here’s your ultimate guide for getting offline and getting back into nature and your community this summer.
How to Go ‘Offline’ This Summer
According to Lisa George, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, founder and CEO at Talk Tribeca, people tend to make going offline much harder than it needs to be. It’s not about quitting cold turkey, but rather cutting back where you can.
“You don’t need to be dramatic about it by throwing your phone in the ocean or deleting every app overnight,” she says. “You can start by creating small pockets of time where you’re offline. Go for a walk without your phone. Have your coffee with no scrolling. Leave your phone in another room while you have dinner. Spend an hour doing something that doesn’t involve a screen.”
Just because it’s simple, however, doesn’t mean it feels comfortable right away. Even these small changes might set you off.
“Most people are actually quite surprised by how uncomfortable that feels at first, and that’s usually a sign they need it,” George says.
In fact, you might even experience a sort of withdrawal from logging off social media. As the Social Media Victims Law Center reports, “According to some psychological research, between 5% and 10% of Americans can be classified as at risk for social media addiction. Using platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook has an effect on the user’s brain similar to the effects of certain recreational drugs.”
George even advises users to expect these withdrawals, so you can better anticipate them.
“If you’re used to checking your phone every few minutes, it’s going to feel strange when you stop. You’re essentially breaking a habit loop,” she says. “The urge to check is going to be there. The goal isn’t to make the urge disappear. The goal is not to automatically respond to it.”
Alternative Sources of Dopamine
Of course, one of the best ways to address your social media addiction and get offline is by finding healthier, more natural sources of dopamine. This might mean actually working for your dopamine—so try your best to find that motivation.
“The problem is that social media gives us fast, dirty dopamine (there’s no effort in it),” says George. “Real life tends to make us work a little harder for it. Things like exercise, learning something new, spending time with friends, being outdoors, or creating something all produce a different kind of reward. It’s usually less intense, but it’s actually more satisfying and tends to last longer than swiping does.”
The post How to Actually Go Offline This Summer Without Losing Your Mind: A Guide appeared first on VICE.
