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Internet down? No worries! Here are things to do instead!
So, the internet went down and the well, the internet lost their damn minds. Since I normally have a few days a week where I don’t log in at all, it didn’t affect me. However, I imagine with a lot of my friends, it possibly affected their livelihood. Other friends, it probably just impacted how nosy they were going to be that day, lmaooooo.
I recently watched a very informative documentary on social media called The Social Dilemma and it even changed how I view my time on social media. I was already starting to log off (and sometimes, not even log on at all!) from different apps but the documentary made me realize how addicting – purposely addicting and rather harmful – social media can be.
I mainly use social media to promote my writing and my blog. If someone wants to catch up with me, I do check in but mainly those who truly know me, know my phone number and I’m pretty accessible.
I’m not saying that to be some sort of social media hipster snob. I was once addicted to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and gosh, too many to name. I had to always know who was doing what, where they went, who they were with, etc. I was more addicted to being privy to someone’s life than I was to creating a comfortable life of my own.
I know, crazy, right?
I realized if I wanted to be more successful, I would have to schedule a day when I’ll be on social media and also, how much I’ll be on it. I can’t be on it all day and honestly, I wonder how anyone does that!
iPhones have a wonderful program where you can actually monitor how much time you spend on any given app and I think it’s the bee’s knees. It’ll tell you how many times you picked up your phone because of that particular app, how much time you spent on it in a day and overall in the week.
To view it, go to Settings and then Screen Time. It’ll tell you your daily average and all of the apps you go on the most. Trust, you’ll want to visit this part of your phone. You’ll thank me later for this tip.
I do recognize that many people use social media to promote their businesses and projects, so when one goes down or in this case – many of them owned by the same company – it can cause more than some headaches. People have to reschedule, push back somethings, and maybe cancel what they planned to do altogether.
This is also imperative why a person shouldn’t just be wholly dependent on social media for their business. You should create mailing lists to let customers know when they have something for sale or an upcoming event. If you were dependent on promoting on something on a major social network such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), what happened was very bad and possibly set you back. You don’t want to be caught slipping now.
I strongly suggest you also create a website just like the one I have. On Etsy, there are a ton of WordPress layouts you can use to help you with your website goals. Use this time to build your business and yourself instead of worrying about the food Becky posted the night before. Trust me, you’ll be better for it!
But let’s say you’re not business-minded and really, you just like being on social media because it’s a fun hobby. Now what? What are you going to do? This latest outage was only a few hours, but what if the next one is a few days? What if it’s a few weeks?
Then what?
Well, when this happens again (because it will), here are a list of things to do to keep you occupied if you’re not working a full-time job (yes, that was shade I just threw). I did a similar list here before, but here’s an updated one.
Let’s Go!
- Start reading a new book.
- Learn a new language.
- Online shopping, window or real.
- Write a handwritten letter.
- Work on your fourth quarter goals.
- Do a Birthday resolution, instead of a New Year one.
- Journal.
- Meditate.
- Look up recipes.
- Meal plan for the week.
- Do a no-spend week.
- Plan a no-spend month.
- Create a savings plan and stick to it.
- Create a debt-free plan and stick to it.
- Call – not text – friends you haven’t spoken to in a while.
- Play a new game on your phone.
- Plan your next vacation.
- Get fucking vaccinated.
- Catch up on your streaming shows.
- Start a new streaming show.
- Watch a documentary.
- Discover new indie music artists on Bandcamp.
- Discover new music artists on Apple, YouTube, or Spotify.
- Create a different spotify playlist.
- Update your hairstyle.
- Watch a movie.
- Clean your home.
- Get your nails done.
- Learn how to do your own manicures and pedicures.
- Learn how to dress for your body type.
- Make your own room spray.
- Make your own hair products.
- Make your own body products.
- Try on different makeup looks.
- Start a YouTube channel.
- Take a Skillshare course.
- Choose some digital photos from your phone and print them.
- Learn how to knit.
- Learn how to crochet.
- Start a garden.
- Update your home furnishings.
- Go outside!!!
- Order from a different restaurant and review it.
- Write five good things about your day and reflect.
- Donate to a local cause, money or supplies.
- Go on a short drive or trip around town.
- Buy fresh flowers.
- Go get ice cream or fro-yo.
- Go to Farmer’s Market.
- Make a plan to step away from social media at least once a week.
I don’t expect you to do all of these at once (and I most certainly hope you don’t attempt!), but here is a solid list of what you could do when the social media apps go down. This has happened several times in the past and every time it happens, people are still shocked and some even panic.
I’m lucky enough to be of the age to remember how things were before social media and trust me, you’ll survive! You might even find how much of a time-suck social media was and unless you’re willing to spend just a few minutes a day on it, you probably don’t need to be on it all of the time.
How do you handle your time away from the internet? Sound off in the comments!
