I carry my phone around with me everywhere I go. If I have free time during the day, which i usually do, I scroll through Facebook for a few minutes and then close out of the app. I'll get a Facebook notification, look at it, and then scroll through Facebook some more, and then it becomes a cycle. So today for the first time ever, I turned off my notifications. I did this for multiple reasons, if this goes well I might just take a break from social media for a while.

I really want to have a more productive life. I am a sophomore in college and I am sure there are much better things to do than just sit on my phone all day scrolling through social media. I am hoping that now that I don't have notifications on, I won't have the desire to spend hours of my time on Facebook. Do I love finding new memes? Yes. Do I like seeing tons of things about politics? No. That is another huge reason why I am trying to avoid social media. Seeing everyone stress about our country's current situation really stresses me out. There is also so much hate being spread because of this election, I am a kind and caring person, and I am tired of seeing it.

Another reason why I turned my notifications off is because I hate feeling compelled to look at my phone every time it makes a noise. I know I am not the only one that does this. My phone goes off and I check it immediately, which I'm sure is annoying when I am hanging with my friends or my boyfriend. I should not put social media before real life relationships, but I seem to do it all too often. I don't want to be that person who reply's to someone else's message while I have a person in front of me trying to talk to me.

I also turned off my notifications because recently a lot of passive aggressive posts were made about me. I am a sensitive person and care way too much about what others think about me. To see someone aiming things at me on social media is too much for me to deal with because I really just want everyone to like me. So far it has been helpful not going on to Facebook because I am not seeing what this person is saying to me.

I suggest we all turn off our notifications for a bit. Live in the now. The world is a beautiful place if you have the right mindset and attitude. Get off your phone and enjoy some quality time with friends and family. Ignore the stress that social media brings. Ignore the political side of Facebook for a few days, I can almost bet you will feel better. To make it known, I do find politics to be important, but sometimes it is nice to take a break from the hate that comes with it.