Alice Catherine

Over the festive period, I really managed to switch off for a good four/five days which is very unlike me – I was in fact, hit with the worst flu/virus (devil thing) I’ve contracted in ages, and really had no other choice but to tune out. Bright screens hurt my eyes, and my constant fever meant that I couldn’t conjure up a caption, let alone get dressed to take an  OOTD…

When I got a bit better, I found myself scrolling through endless images I’d missed during the days I’d been ‘off’, and was suddenly hit with the dreaded social media guilt. That feeling that most of us experience at some point – could I be doing more?.

It’s a pretty shit place to be, and I genuinely believe it takes a very secure person to log out of social media for a week and not dwell whether people will still be interested when they finally return. After all, we live in a time where everything seems replaceable, and life moves so fast that sometimes I find myself daydreaming about the excitement a worldwide power cut might bring. Imagine how the world would be without internet for a full week? Ahh the good old days…

Daydreams aside, I do find that this constant guilt is the very source of my productivity – it keeps me motivated in a sort of twisted way. It’s the ‘can’t sit still’ and the ‘must keep moving’ in my mind that often leads me towards accomplishments. That’s not to say that if I didn’t chill out a bit that I wouldn’t still be doing just fine, but I have noticed that a strong sense of being uncomfortable runs closely alongside being ‘successful’. Social media guilt, fear of not being good enough, fear of never amounting to anything – these can often all be driving forces behind the daily/mundane things we have to do in order to get anywhere. 

It’s definitely something I want to try and change this year – I’d like to stop feeling guilty when I choose to have a weekend offline, and I’d like to stop feeling guilty when I sleep in past 8am and only write half a blog post whilst eating a full packet of biscuits…

I also don’t want to be the reason that anyone else doesn’t feel good enough about themselves or the life they are leading. Just as I might look at someone I admire online and forget that everyone has sadness behind the scenes – I wouldn’t want to portray that I have this perfect lifestyle and everything is all figured out. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’d like to set myself some new social media rules this year…

1) To stop feeling fucking guilty – life is short and social media is fast and unforgiving. Don’t beat yourself up because your life doesn’t feel like a curated grid of edited images. Let yourself be present in the moments you’ll treasure forever. Pick your phone up less. Worry less.

2) To focus less on perfection and find beauty in the smaller things – whether it’s a sunset or a candid picture of Sam and I. This year I want to worry less about what people want to see, and just get back to posting whatever makes me happiest. It’s easy to worry about likes and engagement when it’s a full time job, but it shouldn’t be a ruling factor for everything I post.

3) To not let other peoples goals distract me from my own – other peoples goals are entirely their own business. I want to fret less about what people on Instagram might be up to, and spend more time being productive and chipping away at my own hopes and dreams.

4) To minimise scrolling time and maximise content creation – there were days last year when I barely got anything done because I just developed a bad habit of spending too long browsing online instead of creating my own stuff. I’d sit and read endless articles, stalk my Twitter feed, and then notice it was getting dark outside and my To Do list wasn’t getting any shorter. We can always catch up with social media, but we can’t get those hours back we spent procrastinating…

5) To get creative with my spare time instead of filling it with social media – this links in nicely with my last point, and is something I’m really passionate about lately. When I’m bored, it’s so easy just to log onto social media and see what everyone else is up to. This year I’m going to try my best to fill this time with things that will expand my mind instead of slowly numbing it. Whether it’s picking up a book, listening to a podcast, or just doodling for fifteen minutes – I’m putting a cap on mindless social media consumption… 

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it’s maybe inspired you to set a few social media rules for yourself this year. If you could set yourself one social media rule for 2019, what would it be?…

Photographs taken by Catherine Booty 

Cardigan – And Other Stories, Bralet – Wacoal, Trousers – Mango

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