Editor: Mrinali

Just five more minutes and I will be studying; just five more minutes and I will start working; just five more minutes and I will do that work, and it’s always five or ten more minutes.

Yes, we have all faced these situation in our lives with our Instagram feed, Snapchat, and other social media apps. Mindless scrolling is one of the few things that wastes our time. Another big emanante is comparing one’s life with others. The fear of missing out, the panic of not being able to travel as much as your friends, of not going to clubbing, weddings, and parties as your other friends do. All these emotions pile up and then you hate your life for the way it is. FOMO is a real thing. 

It is a human tendency to compare your life with others, but when this comparison becomes an obsession, it exacerbates our mental peace. And in these kinds of situations, we should think rationally.

First let’s talk about reels, TikTok has been banned in India and just after that instagram added a new feature ‘REELS’, a perfect marketing opportunity for them to engage with more users.Watching a few reels for entertainment is fine, but endless scrolling is the real problem. It not only wastes time but also increases our short attention span, which directly affects our productivity. You want to start your work or study but you are watching reels before that. It will definitely take more time than you think to start your work. 

Instagram has PhD data scientists and they pay them a handsome amount to design algorithms for maximum user engagement. And trust me, you always spend more time than what you have decided to spend. They have kept this short amount of time, 30-60 seconds, just because you can have maximum engagement because people get bored by seeing any clip longer than this amount of time. 

One of the best way to keep yourself away from mindless scrolling of reels is to use Instagram on the browser, other ways can be to use apps to lock instagram for certain period of times of the day but all of this will not work if you cannot control your urge to open it just because of boredom. So you have to control your hysteria, keep yourself busy with productive work, and demystify your own brain to use social media in a balanced way.Another thing that most of you have experienced, and even I have, is that whatever you are doing in your life, in the background of your mind, there is a social media bubble going on.

Whether you are travelling or eating outside or even strolling in a park, your urge to take photos and videos is always there. You always think about how this will look on your social media wall. You should always try to comport yourself as if everyone is watching you, as if you are a public figure. You can’t capture every moment of your life with a camera.

Clicking pictures for reminiscence in the future is good, but living with your camera on all the time is not at all good for you. You must learn to enjoy the moment while talking to people who are your loved ones.

Cherish those moments with laughter, enjoyment, and mindful talking.Ask yourself this one question: If social media didn’t exist, what would you do with your life?

Hello dear reader. If you loved this article and wish to read more such articles from the author, make sure to like this post and also share across all the social media channels.

Hello, My name is Tanya Diwedi, an artist by heart and an engineer by profession. 

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/wavy.dreams_._/

Email- i.am.tanya100@gmail.com