Reclaim Your Time
“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
I know you’ve probably heard the following saying: We all have 24 hours in a day. That’s true, but sometimes, it feels so far from the truth. I spent an hour on Sunday blowing snow out of my driveway. I pass the time listening to an audiobook or a podcast. I know I’ve talked about time before, but one big suck of time that I’ll never get back is that used on social media.
Now, is social media evil? No* (well yes, but not evil on its own.) And if you enjoy your time on anything, it can’t be called wasted. And I thought I was enjoying time seeing what others were up to, enjoying funny memes, but with the latest round of political worries where we all take a side, rage baiting, and just plain ignorance from my digital tribe, I’ve decided to go on an exodus to Bluesky.
Alanah Pearce had a nice video that showcased some good points which spurred this post. You can watch it below if you like.
Anyway, I discovered not being on it as much (and asking my fiancee to text me rather than message me via Facebook Messenger) helped immensely with my mental health. Do I still check it? Sometimes. But it’s been nice to feel like an outside observer like a scientist observing mold growing in a container. And Facebook researchers have been doing this for a long time. And can you blame them? (Well…yes. They should be blamed…) But they are a company. Companies will do anything, and how they make their money is feeding users endless ads (which they do anyway), analyze human behavior (which they are masters at), and selling that information to those who can use (and abuse) it.
Getting off my soapbox now onto another one: You don’t have to be on social media. If you are feeling anxious, depressed, pressured, or obsessed with others, you don’t have to fall into that trap. There was this study that shown teens fear of missing out (FOMO) on TikTok and Instagram, but would pay to have others to have them all off of it. For me, I like seeing people do their own thing. And Bluesky seems to be really good at that and transparent. There are no ads, and you can control your ecosystem better. Just one thing to note like with any platform, it’s important that it doesn’t become an echosystem which I’m going to coin now (®). That is, we all have different ideas. That’s how we grow. If people are being mean or not additive to the conversation and double down without giving you the benefit of a doubt, then those people just want validation or to rage bait. (What’s the saying about buttholes again?) Anyway, take your time more personally than someone’s opinion. Go touch grass, walk outside, get some sunshine (I know we need more up here.)
Until next time! (pun was unintended, I swear!)
