By Orla O’Connor

Apps-olutely mad

I realised this week that apps are taking over my life.  This realization came when I went to check the time on my phone and ended up 2hours later putting my phone away after checking every social media account I have under the sun.  I have realised recently that social media is in fact massively anti-social.  In those 2 hours I spend the whole time watching videos that none of my friends or followers had made, that largely said nothing truthful about them.  Everything I watched was created by or in some way referenced a brand.  

So I deleted Facebook off my phone, the main culprit.  It wasn’t till after I did this did I realise how much time I had been spending on that site.  I would find myself reaching for my phone and clicking on the app where Facebook used to be to be greeted by google sheets 5 – 6 times a day.  On trains my fingers felt restless.  It had become a habit, my first real addiction (other than biting my nails as a kid).  And the only way to stop addiction, cold turkey.  For this week no Facebook for me.  I have set up blocks, if people want to chat to me they will have to text or ring.  Orla is officially going back to the 1990’s, and why not after all Blair and Pokemon have made a comeback this year we are practically living in the 1990’s again anyway.  I have no idea if this will make me a better or worse creative, but John Lennon didn’t have Facebook and he did just fine without it.  
There is also alot I’ve missed from doing this.  Group project and assignments have also been organised over Facebook.  However this means that I have to organise my time better by having social media checking times.  It is by no means a perfect new systems I have created.  But at least I’m not getting 1 am Facebook messages waking me up, girl needs her beauty sleep.  In this highly digital age it is hard to see the benefits of a slightly disconnected life, but it does help.  I don’t think I will ever be able to totally disconnect, and I don’t think modern society would ever let us do that but some peace and quiet is always nice.  All these ramblings can be boiled down to this – turn off your notifications so you can get shit done.