I caught myself doomscrolling last night. This is when you stare at social media for an extended period, flipping through posts and videos like a mindless zombie. To be fair, I was a mindless zombie at this point. I just came off back-to-back shifts where I close one night, only to turn around and open the next. So, I was working on less than six hours sleep. This was also the start of my week-long vacation period, where I’m looking to wind down from the madness of the Christmas season. Maybe I can cut myself a little slack.

That said, every time I catch myself doomscrolling, I always think of the things I could have been doing instead. I have a laundry list of albums from this year in my queue that I could have been listening to. I want to be one of those people that can give a year end top whatever list of the best albums of the year, in my own opinion, of course. But, I’m often distracted.

I could have been reading. I just started a new book. I read a chapter, put it down, and haven’t returned in the past few days. I’ve done this with a lot of books over the course of this year. You would think I’d be more into reading stories from people who I find interesting. But, I’m often distracted.

I could have been writing. Like I am now. I want to write more. About the things I read, the albums I’ve listened to, the movies/TV shows I’ve watched, or the books I’ve read. I want to use my journals more. I’ve touched my digital journal sparingly this month and I haven’t even set up my bullet journal for December. I’m currently taking advantage of the quiet morning hours when the rest of my place is quiet, both internally, and with the neighbors around me. Except for Griffey, my orange toddler of a cat. But, he’s cute, so, he can get away with that. But, it’s not like I don’t have a place to seek refuge or methods of finding it. I just don’t. Because, I’m often distracted.

I’m distracted, far too much, by social media. Being honest, there’s nothing there that won’t be there later on. I used to be pretty good about setting times in which I would check on things. This is a practice I learned from my uncle in Georgia. He hats smart phones. The iPhone his son bought for him is usually sitting on the kitchen counter, plugged in. He only unplugs it when he’s expecting to be out of the house a while. Otherwise, he still has a landline. He checks Facebook twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. After checking, he then closes the door to the nook where the computer sits. Out of sight. Out of mind.

I once went quite a while after seeing this without social media apps on my phone. The exception was Micro.blog, which feels more like a community of bloggers than a social media service. I can now add Mastodon as another exception, since the way I have it curated doesn’t send me down many rabbit holes. But, otherwise, no Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I only check when I’m sitting at my desk. It was no more than a ten minute process.

I need to get back to that. I need to spend more time here and in the spaces that are healthy for my mind. Sometimes that means clearing the trash out of it. Other times, that means letting something informative or artistic into it. That doesn’t mean I won’t have a little junk food here or there. Just in moderation.

Call this a New Year’s resolution if you want. But, I’m going to try to put more into my site than social media. I hope my personal friends will follow along. Because, this is where I put my thoughts, my photos (mostly of cats), my beer reviews, movie/TV reviews, what I’m reading, and so on. All these things people dump onto social media, I can post here, usually better. Follow me via RSS or just pop in from time to time. I’ll be here.