Media Binge & Fast

Media Binge

This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked to take a media fast, but a media binge was a new challenge. I did NOT want to do a media binge. I convinced myself that I had a million other better things to be doing than doing such a task, but I finally gave in for a day and it was exactly what I imagined it would be like. 

It was annoying, I felt anxious the whole time. I could feel my mind continuously ticking like it was a machine that couldn’t turn off, almost giving me a headache. I got bored of media really quick. There were only so many people posting to Instagram on a Thursday, and Facebook only has so many How To: Food videos.

The morning started off fine, I went to class with music in my ear while scrolling through Snapchat as I rode the bus to City Campus (I felt almost car sick from staring at my screen the whole time). I sat in my morning class with computer out, and I can tell you that I don’t feel like I retained too much information that day except what was on my Pinterest feed. It’s almost impossible to pay attention to anything when you have something staring right back at you! I finished the rest of the day with my phone in my hand, and I came home exhausted. I learned from that day that our minds are not made to be fully attentive, especially to a screen, for 12 hours. We need breaks to see the world in front of us, and my first media binge emphasized my beliefs. 

Media Fast

Thank goodness for this media fast. It came on the perfect day after a day full of stress and tests. I completed the media fast on a Saturday, with nothing on my plate, except work later that evening. I knew I would like the media fast because I am not really a technology junky anyways, but it was especially nice since I had zero chance to look at my phone. I spent the morning cleaning my room (ahh that was a great de-stressor), and then made myself a yummy breakfast with eggs and a smoothie. I sat and talked to my roommates about life and then packed up for work. During our less busy time at work, we usually all pull out our phones and just hang out, but since I didn’t have mine, I had to try to make intentional conversation with people and that was difficult. However, I ended up finding a couple people throughout my shift that I ended up having a really good conversation with and learned things I had never known about them (and I’ve been working with them for almost a year!)

Overall, the media fast was a nice refresher and reminder on why I believe in a division between you and your phone. Specifically, this fast helped me connect with my coworkers, and I plan on distancing myself from my phone more often at work so I can keep connecting with them :)