Wake up, check social media, scroll scroll scroll, switch, scroll scroll scroll, switch. This is a pattern that many of us have as a part of our daily routines. Without realizing it, we make time to check our social media platforms to see what the daily buzz is. Whether you use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or more, you can find yourself checking your profiles at least 2-3 times a day.

What is it about social media that has us so intrigued? Is it the virtual connection between family and friends? Is it the mass variety of information at our fingertips? I was set to find out.

Delete.

No social media, absolutely nothing for a week. On this journey I was set to find out a few things that were very eye opening to me.

While I know I spend too much time on social media, I realized my phone could actually tell me how much of it I was using. If you go into your settings (this is for iPhone users) your battery section can tell you just how much time you spend on each of your apps. Facebook being my most spent time. Any time I was on my phone, 86% of the time I was on Facebook.

I was embarrassed to read the stats. I couldn’t believe I was spending that much of my time on my phone just scrolling through my news feed!

What I noticed next was how it affected my everyday life. The time I would normally spend at home when I didn’t have work, I found myself actually going on my phone to check the apps, to realize they weren’t there. I did it quite a few times actually. It really made it sink in that I spend way too much of my time on my phone.

It worried me too see that it wasn’t only me. On the second day of my week cleanse, I went to Demi Lovato’s concert with Dj Khaled. During Khaled’s set, he actually pulled out his phone to post the concert on his snapchat story.

In the middle of his set.

During the rest of the concert I saw all those around me watching the concert through their phones, not even taking in the fact that they were seeing this artist live in the same building.

My week without social media made me realize that, while it was intended for good purposes, to connect with those around you, for many it has become an addiction. We need to realize the reality that is set right in front of us.

We’re too busy wasting our times documenting it for our followers that we’ve neglected to realize we should be living in the moment. While I did redownload the apps, doing so because my job as a writer requires me to, I know now to cut down. Life is right in front of me, not in my phone.