of social media… on my phone.

I’ve done this before, and then I got sucked back into the addictive, doom-scroll time suck of Facebook and Instagram. Months later, I moved the apps off the home page of my phone, trying to break the habit. And that seemed to work… for a bit.

But then I developed a new habit of opening my phone and scrolling left twice to find the apps. It became quite automatic. Once I realized what I was doing, I logged out again. And that worked for a while—until it didn’t.

I’ve thought about just deleting my accounts altogether, except with business the way it is these days, everyone expects you to be on social media. In the world of sales, it’s basically impossible not to have some kind of presence on the socials.

Managing it is the problem, at least for me.

In a world of portable computers, I find myself wishing I could go back to the days of phones without apps. After being logged out for a while, I’ll find myself needing to post something on Facebook for my customers. I’ll be away from the computer, so I log back into the apps from my phone with every intention of logging right back out again.

But those damn social media engineers end up sucking the discipline from my soul.

And don’t even get me started on Instagram. The consumption of Reels is a real thing. Then, with the power of the share button, they make it incredibly easy to send whatever you think is funny to everyone else. Which means I’ve now transferred my toxic time suck to half a dozen friends and family members. Here’s a big I’m sorry to any of you who watched a Reel I sent you and then got sucked into the algorithm for the next hour.

So, I’ve recently logged back out of the apps on my phone again, and I’m thinking that maybe I’ll need to delete them completely from my phone in the near future.

I understand that you may have found this post through social media, and now you’re reading my stream of consciousness from that portable computer in your hand. The notion of going backwards is obviously a wistful one that will probably have my adult kids rolling their eyes.

Which means I need to stop allowing outside influences… to, well… influence me.

I’ve gone back to pen and paper for my to-do lists so that I can do things like declutter my workshop and garage in order to get out from behind the screens. But in order to accomplish those tasks, social media has to go by the wayside—or at least be managed.

I mean, who wants to end up like a character from WALL-E?

So here’s to managing the doom scroll.

If you’ve found ways to beat it, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. In the meantime, I should simply stop crying and get to gett’in.

Make it your Absolute Intent to be better today than you were yesterday.

NOTE: I’m not an expert in anything. These musings are simply a case study to hold myself accountable to living intentionally. I want to be the best version of myself.

It is my belief that if I focus on the five pillars I developed for myself, then finding a balanced life should be easier. My musings are based on my life experiences and my need to live with intention.

I welcome thoughtful comments.