I’ve struggled with a love hate relationship with social media for as long as I have been on it. I love the potential of it, I love the moments of joy it can bring, and I love the ability to connect with others.

But as social media matures I have seen a shift toward the celebration of falsely advertised lifestyles. Social media seems to have become a public journal where you post the highlights of your life! On these apps, everyone seems to be living such spectacular lives with such amazing food, people, and culture! Yet, more people than ever report that they are depressed or feel lonely.

I have personally noticed that I am at my worst when I spend a too much time on these apps. I start deprecating myself and judging others by how they present themselves on the screen.

So, I am going to take a break from social media. I am going to turn it off for 30 days. And I know as a someone who is trying to build a presence online by making videos this might not be the best marketing plan. But for me I am trying to figure out if these thoughts of depression and self deprecation are worth the tiny growth I receive by being present on these apps.

I think social media is a great tool that can be used to connect with creative people and great companies all around the world, but I find it very hard to use it solely as a productive tool. Often I find myself wasting precious time on it, time I will never get back.

A quick scroll through instagram turns into writing down book recommendations, adding places to my “explore Los Angeles” list, and much too often looking at friends of friends and friends of friends of friends of the opposite sex ( filters make them look good!). Most of what I do on social media can, in some sense, be classified as productive. But in the big picture of my life and my goals it is not helping me.

I have also noticed that when I browse social media I am not so happy when I turn it off. I’ve recently realized that social media is just a highlight reel of the greatest parts of people’s lives and it’s easy to forget that. For instance, my Instagram is a gingerly perfectly curated feed of beautiful dogs, wonderful food, airlines flights, and travel photos. But the honest truth is I spend a lot of time sitting at a computer editing footage, driving, and eating raw vegetables that are not even complete food dishes, they are just ingredients! Social media doesn’t show the fact that not everyone's life is not a collection of perfect moment after perfect moment. It’s important for me to remember that everyone’s life contains highs and lows and often times the lows out number the highs.

I need to fix this but I don’t think it is wise to cut out social media completely from my life, especially based on my career path in the film industry. But I do think it is wise to figure out how to control it. Here is my plan…

First off I have removed all social media from the homescreen on my phone and put it on the last screen deep in a folder. This way it is out of sight and hopefully out of mind.
Second I will only check it twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. I have set aside 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night for social media. After those 15 minutes are up, my social media is over for the day.

I look forward to seeing how I fill the parts of my life that are currently consumed by social media. The times when I am waiting for the subway or waiting for a friend to show up at a coffee shop. Instead of reaching into my pocket to stroke a piece of glass and metal to make me feel comfortable perhaps I will talk to the hipster sitting next to me with his $5,000 Apple Watch and EBT card? Just a thought.

This is the plan, it’s bound to change but I know myself and I know I need a plan in order to change or accomplish a goal. I will keep you all updated in due time.