TAKE A DIGITAL DETOX THIS WEEKEND

I recently worked on a digital minimalism project with my teammate, Nancy Tapsirorei Precious as part of our Pan Africa Digital Futures Cohort of the School of International Futures, UK. Since the project, I have not stopped thinking about how social media and mobile devices have impacted our lives.While mobile phones and the internet have brought great opportunities to us, we rarely reflect on mobile phones' emotional and psychological effects, especially surfing social media on the internet. In a series of conversations I had with some professionals recently, it became glaring to me that it is not only teenagers or Gen Z that gets addicted to mobile phones and social media; it happens to adults as well, even though at different levels.One colleague told me that he eats with his right hand and presses the phone with his left hand on the dining table. His phone became part of his dining culture as he cannot eat without holding his phone. He also often gets angry because he reads the popular page instablognaija on Instagram every morning. The series of bad news and happenings on the page unconsciously get him on edge throughout the day. He discovered all these after considering whether he is control of his phone or his phone was actually in control.These days, many young people go through an emotional roller coaster because a friend on Instagram is "living the life" in their evaluation, and they are in their room, praying to have money to prepare dinner. I was out with some friends a few months ago, and I noticed that 80 per cent of the people at the table were literarily on their phones throughout, some smiling to their screens while some were just too busy replying to messages. They forgot they were hanging out with humans.Social media use and addiction to phones create all kinds of silent emotions that are unconsciously subtle, and it takes a deep reflection to get back control. The consistent press to post something even when you don't have anything to say, the search for validation, the cancel culture, the trolling and the anxiety that comes with making a mistake or being called out online are all great pointers to slowing down.Mention must be made of how we take our phones to bed and no longer do profound works because of phone distractions; how the first thing we do in the morning is to quickly jump on Twitter and Instagram to see what happened between when we slept and when we woke up; how our day is full of bad energies because of a stranger who made a negative comment on our post and lots more.We must begin to take digital minimalism serious by taking control of our devices. We bought them with our money, and they must not enslave us.I do the following things to have control over my phone;1. I put my phone in silence during active working hours.2. I prioritize the urgent messages and the ones that can wait.3. I delete my social media from time to time when I have quality work to do.4. I am not pressured to make posts on social media when I don't have anything to share.5. I snooze some distracting apps on my phone till noon every day.6. I don't start my day by reading social media news or posts.7. I create time during the week to do social media interaction, and that is it.8. I deliberately don't read some blogs and channels for my mental health.9. I put my phone away on most weekends to have complete rest after a long week.10. I prioritize having valuable conversations over social media over small talks.11. I don't take social media comments personal. Some people hiding behind keyboards to troll you are cowards, as many of them would not do the same if they were to face you physically.NB: The points above are not laws, take an approach that works for you to get back the control of your device.ThanksOluwaseun David ADEPOJU