So yesterday I decided to take a break from my personal Instagram account. And I think I will do the same with my Facebook. Because lately I've been realizing that I spent a lot of time... On Instagram and Facebook. And when I say a lot of time, actually, first of all, I don't spend. I waste. I waste my time because I don't learn anything. And by the way, when I say a lot of time, I actually don't mean that I go in there and just scroll, scroll, scroll for one hour. No, that's not the case.
What I do is even worse. I go in there for five minutes just to check what's going on. I check my feed. Maybe if some friends have posted some photos or stories. I check those stories. I just spend five minutes. I get out. When I go to Facebook, five minutes, get out. One hour later, I spend another five minutes. And I get out. So this is the problem. Because it's worse than going in there for one hour and then not touch it for the whole day. Why?
I'll explain. Why is it worse to go and check your Instagram or Snapchat or whatever for five minutes and then go away and then come back in in an hour? The reason it's worse is because you will not be able to control your own emotions. You see one video that's sad, it makes you sad. It's like 30 seconds, right? You go to the next video. You just swipe. There's another video, another reel. This one makes you happy. Then you go to another video. You keep swiping.
Ooh, this video is funny. Oh, it makes me laugh. So now I am being entertained. So in only five minutes, you go through so many different emotions. Happy, angry, sad. funny, entertained, amused, and then you see another 30-second video about some politician or some president doing something crazy, and then...
you get angry and you just want to write a comment, right? First of all, I don't follow any media or, you know, channels like fox news or cnn or any of that but you know sometimes friends post political stuff and you want to check so in only five minutes you go through so many different emotions and Because of this, you will not be able to think for yourself, feel for yourself, feel your own emotions, decide for yourself what kind of feeling you want to have.
Right? Just because you feel bored, you want to check your phone, you want to check social media to see what's going on so that you can change your feeling from bored to happy. So basically, this means that... You need something external to make you feel better, to change your emotions. Because of this, you're just going through so many different emotions.
in a very short amount of time. This can have a very, very negative effect on your emotions, on your feelings, on your mind. And it also negatively affects your... thinking your attention span. That's why you're not able to focus for five minutes. That's why you're not able to study for 30 minutes straight. without checking your phone because your attention span has shrunk has gotten shorter and shorter that's why you can't read a book that's why you can't watch uh you know a 30 minute
YouTube video. That's why you can't focus in this podcast episode and you're not going to listen till the end because you just can't focus. Now you're thinking about something else and now you're thinking about checking your phone again. And this is a really, really serious problem. If you're a student, if you want to improve your life situation, if you want to improve your English, this is the reason.
You can't focus. You spent five hours every day on social media, but you can't spend one hour studying. for something that your future depends on it, which is improving your English, improving other skills, learning other skills, right? Now I'll tell you two reasons why I decided to take a break from... my Instagram, and what I can get back. Because as I said, I spent a lot of time on Instagram, but...
Only a few minutes per session. So I check my phone for like five minutes. Then I close the app. And then after 30 minutes, after an hour, I check it again. But imagine if I check my Instagram. 20 times per day. And each time I spend like five minutes, that's an hour wasted right there. And I guarantee you, you check your Instagram.
way more than 20 times. I mean, maybe you have Snapchat, you have Twitter, you have all these other apps, but I don't use Snapchat or I don't really use Twitter much either, but I only use... Instagram mostly. And I don't even use TikTok. But so in my case, it's only Instagram. And that's an hour right there. So I was thinking to myself, because I like to practice self-awareness.
I like to learn and exercise being aware of my emotions, my feelings, my actions. So I started thinking to myself because I really enjoy reading. I love reading books and improving myself. I love reading about religion, personal behavior, human psychology. I love reading about the history of the world. the history of religions i'm muslim so i love reading about the history of islam right so i thought to myself hmm i waste a lot of my precious time
On this platform. Five minutes here. Five minutes there. Five minutes here. Five minutes there. And all of it. If I collect all of it together. If I add it all up. It's like one hour or two hours because you can also go to, you know, on your smartphone, you can go and check screen time and see how much time you spend on each app. So I thought to myself, I could.
gain so much time back to myself to invest in myself, in things that can help me grow more and ultimately become more successful, become happier, right? i mean think about it when was the last time you learned something very very powerful or life-changing on instagram or snapchat in a 30-second video Never. Yes, here and there. I mean, I make content on Instagram. I make videos for English learners. I make motivational videos as well to motivate others. But...
Real learning. Those are motivation stuff, right? To motivate you to take action, but not like, I mean, when was the last time you actually watched an Instagram video and then you took some notes on your notebook? Never. We're always just checking and then move on because that's short-term memory stuff. You just learn stuff there and it goes to your short-term memory and then...
30 seconds later, you forget it. Real learning takes place when you sit down and actually take notes about things that you're learning. You're reading a book. You highlight certain parts that are important for you that you want to go back later and check. Real learning happens when you focus for more than five minutes. And that's not the case with social media. I mean, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok. These are places where you gain motivation so that you can take it and go somewhere else.
And you have to be very, very careful what pages you follow, because ultimately you become what you see, what you read, what you watch and what you hear. So you have to be very, very careful and be very selective on the pages that you follow. So the first benefit for me is getting more time for me. This is the first thing. Second thing, taking this time and invest it in things that bring me value. For example, the two hours that I save by not using my Instagram.
I invest these two hours in reading and watching podcast videos on YouTube, reading Quran, right? Listening to Quran. And I decided that I'm going to connect with my friends more by sending them messages. making phone calls even if it's for five minutes because we think we connect with our friends on social media but we really don't we really don't
Like you connect with them. You just check where they are, but you never say, hey, how are you? How's life? How's your life going? You just check and see their selfie or that they're on vacation. And that makes you even feel worse about yourself because you see this story and then you think, ah, man, my friend is on vacation and I'm broke at home, right? Or...
Oh, my friend just got married. Oh, they look so cute together. And I'm single here. I don't feel happy about my life. And you continuously and constantly compare your life with... other people other friends on social media so that's why it's really really dangerous instead the real the natural the the best way to connect with your friends is
I mean, if they are close, if you live in the same city, to spend time together. Have a tea or coffee every once in a while. If they are not in the same city, give them a phone call. So that's what I'm going to start doing more often, to connect with my friends by actually calling them or FaceTiming them.
or sending them texts and just checking on them and this will create a sense of connection not through just checking their phone or liking their photos on social media that's not the way to connect and that's why we have become so disconnected that's why because you know in the back of your mind you see their photo and then you think to yourself oh i don't need to talk to them because it looks like they're doing okay
Looks like they're doing well. And because of this, you don't connect. You don't talk to people that you care about, even your own family, right? Because of social media. So I decided that... i'm going to take this time and bring it back to me bring the power back to me i am the boss not my smartphone or Instagram or Snapchat. We think we're in control, right? But we're really not. Like if you can't control, if you can't stop yourself from checking your phone and you think you are free.
You're wrong. And so, and I'm starting for myself. That's why I've actually much, much, much better than five, six years ago. So you get this time back. to yourself and you invest it in things that are important things that are valuable and things that can make you a better person because really the more you learn Even if you look at it from a financial perspective, the more you learn, the more you earn, the more you can give. Whether it's money, whether it's time, or...
any other valuable thing that you own. Trust me, you don't make friends through social media. You make friends from real interactions. real conversations, deep talks, and actually socializing in person. I am not for just deleting your account. I mean, if you're addicted, that's a different situation. But... i'm not for just deleting all your accounts because there are many useful accounts that you can follow and learn from them because but deciding what to see who to follow
And how much time you should spend on each platform separates you from the rest. This also proves who is in charge of your life. You or... social media. If you relate to the things that I shared in this episode, send me a message on Instagram at the English zone underscore and let's have a chat. And that's the way to connect. That's the way to learn. If you like this episode, write a comment below and make sure to subscribe and check out my other episodes and practice your English the easy way.
easy way. Thanks for listening. Until next time.