Walking underneath the canopy of orange trees, a tart scent of citrus engulfed me as I ambled through the pomegranate-lined streets. I peered up to see the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada graciously guarding the of gem of Andalucia—Granada. I just finished my first week living in my new home in a new country, and I knew something needed to change.

I wanted to be more present and have more focus throughout the day. I wanted to be able to fully pay attention in class, sleep better, and think more creatively. It was time for a big change, one that I had seen for a long time coming. My remedy would consist of deleting social media from my phone. Goodbye Snapchat, goodbye Twitter, goodbye Facebook.

Flash-forward to today after eleven months of reaping the benefits of less social media, I decided to take it a step further this month with the one application that kept me connected—Instagram. I was preparing for some major changes in my life and wanted to be as fully prepared as possible. Goodbye, Instagram.

After one week I had already started seeing improvements in my ability to concentrate, think creatively, and I had more of a general ease of mind. I am able to write more freely and enjoy experiences more deeply. It’s as if I have liberated myself from the stockade of social media. I’m not constantly wondering what my presence is online because I’m busy being present in my own life.

Throughout my personal experiment, I realized that there’s a big difference between zero and one. There’s a big difference between thirty minutes of social media per day and zero minutes of social media per day. To add clarity, there’s a big difference between zero beers and one beer. I realized the key concept in my experiment is capacity. Even if I use social media for good, AKA keeping in touch with friends, sharing funny memes, etc, all that “brain space” is being taken up and not used for something else. Our minds are beyond powerful; however, if we put rubbish in we can only expect to get rubbish out. Capacity is the key here to maximize and liberate your creative center of thought.

Since deleting Instagram I have secured two jobs. It’s been three weeks — three weeks of improving my concentration and focusing on things that really matter to me. Ironically, the morning I deleted Instagram I fell into my first opportunity. I follow some really interesting bloggers and never found enough time to keep up with their articles. That Monday morning I read an article which really resonated with me, and replied with a lengthy comment encompassing my thoughts around the topic. Turns out, the owner of that blog was looking for more writers and they thought I fit just the role.

We’re all aware of the possible and probable negative effects of phone usage by now—decreased self-esteem, decreased attention span, lowered temper, sleep disorders, headaches, depression… But in between these negative effects and zero effects of phone usage, there’s a lot of ground to cover. At the end of the day, our time is the most valuable thing we have. There are only 24 hours in a day, do you really want to forfeit your creativity and peace of mind to the ceaseless clench of your cellular device?

In 2020 one of my new year’s resolution is to commit to four days a week without social media, and more if I need to focus and prepare for something major. Have you ever noticed a decreased amount of attention span or ability to think creatively due to mobile phone usage? What does the difference between zero and one mean to you? Do you plan on decreasing social media and/or phone usage in the new year?