The behavior I chose to change is going on social media (TikTok and Instagram). I think that I use social media as a distraction, and this is something I would like to change since there are healthier ways to keep myself occupied. I observed my behaviors from Sunday through early Tuesday.
After observing myself for a few days, I was able to draw the following connection circles diagram:
On Sunday, I spent most of the day alone in my apartment. At one point, I tried getting some work done, but I found myself feeling bored with my work. I didn’t feel motivated to do much and there wasn’t anyone there to hold me accountable. And so, in the morning I would sit with my computer, but I would also have TikTok or Instagram pulled up. As the connection diagram shows, being home alone led to feeling bored which led to going on social media. Later on, I started feeling lonely, so I spent about an hour scrolling through TikTok. Being home alone led to me feeling lonely which led to going on social media. I also noticed that I felt even lonelier after scrolling through TikTok. I took a break for a little while, but then I was right back on it. The causality loop below represents this relationship.
Sunday evening, I got into an argument with my boyfriend. I was upset, and my first instinct was to go on social media. Instead of addressing the argument immediately, I chose to tune out for a bit. The connection diagram shows how arguing leads to me feeling upset which leads to social media.
Monday was a much better day. I spent the entire day with my boyfriend outside of the apartment. We went out to lunch then spent the evening watching football with his family. I noticed that I did not go on social media at all while I was out. The connection diagram shows how being out with friends and family kept me from feeling lonely or bored, which meant I was not on social media as often.
Today (Tuesday) was a busy day for me. I had a few meetings today and a good amount of work to do. I started my morning with a meeting. The meeting did not have much to do with me, so I found myself reaching for my phone while I was listening in. Again, feeling bored led to me using social media. However, I also attended some meetings later in the day that were interesting to me. Since I enjoyed them, I did not reach for my phone. In the afternoon, I took some time to clean, which I enjoy doing. I noticed that doing something I enjoy deters me from feeling bored or upset and then going on social media.
One thing I would do differently next time is block applications like TikTok and Instagram from my phone. These past few days, I allowed myself to use social media when I was feeling lonely or bored. I would like to see what I would do as an alternative when not given the option to use these platforms. It felt almost instinctual going on social media when feeling bored or upset, so I did not have a chance to internalize how I was feeling before immediately going online. I think taking note of what I do instead of scrolling will be helpful in changing this behavior.
