Danielle Ezell
Danielle is a Partner with the Mettise Group. A jack of all trades, strategist and expert problem solver. Danielle has owned several businesses, served on the executive team of a multi-national corporation and headed a non-profit.
You know that friend who sucks all your time but doesn’t give you anything in return? The totally needy one? Get rid of that friend and change your life.
I had three like that. Their names were Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. A trio of troublemakers who gave me little in return despite my constant devotion. I was obsessed with them until the day I just couldn’t bear another moment with them. Suffer a huge public loss, in my case an election, and you’ll know what I mean. Reading posts by total strangers about your biggest failure is a special kind of personal hell.
My heart raced as I hit those little “x” marks on the corner of the apps that banished them from my phone and iPad. I told myself that this separation wasn’t forever and that we were simply taking a break. We’d get back together, and things would be better than ever.
Being alone again with my own thoughts and no distracting newsfeed was a little scary at first.
I read magazines. I read books. I talked to my family while waiting at a restaurant, something I had almost forgotten how to do. I was able to be fully present with the people in the room with me rather than the ones on my newsfeed. It was crazy. And it felt great.
According to a study by mobileinsurance.com, the average person spends 90 minutes a day on their phone. That adds up to 23 days a year and 3.9 years of your life.
In a world where we complain that there aren’t enough hours in our day, why aren’t we reclaiming those 90 minutes? That’s 7.5 hours or nearly one full work day that we could get back in a five-day work week. Want to stop having to do work in the evenings or weekends? Maybe you wouldn’t have to if you put down your phone during the day.
After a total hiatus of several weeks, I’m now working to re-establish healthy boundaries with my three time-sucking social media app friends. I will never re-install the apps, but I am logging in using my laptop once or twice a day to enjoy your vacation pics, political rants and see where you’re eating. And, of course, smile at super cute kid pics.
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