I have been home for winter break and I've gotten to hang out with my 14-year-old brother who is extremely addicted to his phone. We were playing Yahtzee and I had to enforce a "no phones" rule. He is a perfect example of how much reliance we have on our mobile devices.

I'm like any other college-aged student out there: I cannot be without my phone and I am probably scrolling through social media every seven minutes. It's really hard to be without my phone. Sadly, it's a lifeline for me and vital to my journalism curriculum at UCF.

One of the many blessings I have had was being able to go home for winter break. It was the physical barrier I needed from school to realize how much of an effect it has on my mental health. Eliminating that also made it easier to see how my moods shifted throughout the break depending on how much time I spent scrolling through Instagram or Twitter.

I was way more productive and felt more relaxed on the days I was away from my phone. I felt much better about myself and I didn't feel like I was going crazy. By crazy I mean I usually feel like I am falling behind in comparison to my peers or I get caught up in other people's lives.

Social media is designed to keep us engaged, and boy does it do a great job at it. I think most of the time we like to think about adding things to our life in order to make it better, but I've noticed that eliminating things from your life has just as great. It's been amazing to sit at home with my phone out of sight or be out and about without caring about what notifications are popping up on my phone.

I think our generation has been impacted the most by it because we have grown up with it. And most of us deal with repercussions like anxiety or stress. It's important to really set up limitations for ourselves whether it be physically separating ourselves from our devices or deleting people off of social media.

This is something I want to work on for myself this year and make myself better for it. I want to have a healthy relationship with social media and really work on my mental health. I'm excited to work on this and do something for myself for a change.