There’s truly something humbling about realizing the older generation were right all along. The old folks we the Gen Zs laughed at for telling us to put down our phones.
I quite remember like it was yesterday, making fun of those complaints from my grandma, and I was so convinced we were living better lives.
Well, it turns out, I was the one missing the point. Cutting back on screen time has brought unexpected improvements to my life and has taught me a great lesson to respect and listen to older people, they know what they're saying from experience.
I used to spend over seven hours a day glued to my phone, watching YouTube and Facebook videos. At that time TikTok wasn't around but when TikTok became popular I added that to my screen time. It sounds so ridiculous to me saying it now but at that time, it felt normal to me. Spending hours on the phone feels normal to people because they look around and they see everyone else doing same. It has become part of the world's culture.
But slowly, I realized it was consuming my life. Your time is your life so if something takes your time it's literally taking your life. I’d lose hours in mindless scrolling, my brain constantly bombarded with social media content and I don't know if you're familiar with the feeling of being drained after watching TikTok for two hours straight.
So, I decided not too long ago to make changes by starting small. First, I had to rearrang my home screen to hide all social media apps and keep only the useful stuff like WhatsApp, notepad and Google Chrome. It’s surprising how such a simple tweak made social media feel less for me tempting. I guess it's true what they say, "out of sight is out of mind"
Honestly, real change happened when I stopped paying attention to notifications. I set two specific times to check messages and that new habit was life-changing. Suddenly, I wasn’t constantly checking my phone anymore. I had more time and more mental clarity.
Getting off my phone wasn’t easy at all, but life without it is so much better. I'm not saying don't use your phones but make sure it's adding value to your life and not just taking time away from you.
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