Here I am again. Scrolling and scrolling. My eyes are getting heavier and more tired, yet I can’t seem to bring myself to close them and put my phone away. Here I am, lying in bed. Completely in the dark, where the only light in my room comes from the phone screen in front of me, bright and white. I feel the corners of my mouth curl up a little bit. This tiktok is so relatable and stupid, but also funny in another way. I send it to a friend, who I know will smile too when she sees it. Another hour goes by, and I finally manage to close my eyes. This is a situation where I find myself in almost every other day. When my alarm rings the next morning, of course I can’t manage to pull myself out of my bed and get ready behind my laptop. Forget that 9pm lecture, I need my sleep a little too much at this point. During my tutorial that day, I am again squinting my side eye to look at my phone. PING. A message of whatsapp from the groupchat with my friends. PING. A like on my new post on Instagram. PING. A snapchat from my roommate. PING. PING. PING. PING. It never stops.
This is a situation where I find myself in almost every other day. When my alarm rings the next morning, of course I can’t manage to pull myself out of my bed and get ready behind my laptop. Forget that 9pm lecture, I need my sleep a little too much at this point. During my tutorial that day, I am again squinting my side eye to look at my phone. PING. A message of whatsapp from the groupchat with my friends. PING. A like on my new post on Instagram. PING. A snapchat from my roommate. PING. PING. PING. PING. It never stops.
I must look at all these messages. There is a weird feeling of social pressure from inside, an anxious feeling you may call it, because what if I miss something important? I’m sitting here in my tiny student room and can only dream about all the sunny luxury holidays I see passing by on my timeline. Sigh. Social media is actually not really social, isn’t it? It is fun, but in moderation. Otherwise, you will distance yourself from real social contact. And from your studies. And – not unimportant – from your sleep.
For a while now, I turned off my notifications on my phone from all the social media platforms and I noticed it works really well for me. You never know when you get a new snapchat or a new like, so you cannot stress about it. Also, the little moon function on Iphone works like a tit (excuse my Dutch). No PINGS, just silence on your screen and in your head. This way I have showered, eaten breakfast and drank a coffee all before my lecture of 9pm. And – you will not believe this – I sometimes even have time to read a book at night.