“Sometimes you have to disconnect to stay connected. Remember the old days when you had eye contact during a conversation? When everyone wasn’t looking down at a device in their hands? We’ve become so focused on that tiny screen that we forget the big picture, the people right in front of us.” —Regina Brett

Your phone is a very useful tool that makes your life so much easier. From taking pictures to texting, jotting down notes, taking phone calls, sending emails, etc. why would you want to give it up if it only makes your life better and not worst? It would be foolish if someone tells you to stop using your phone because it makes your life too easy. You would probably look at them funny and go on about your day.

The #Unplug movement goes hand in hand with the popular saying, “Too large an amount of a beneficial or useful thing or activity can be harmful or excessive.” The point isn’t to get you to abandon your phone completely and pretend like you’re in the Paleolithic age all over again. That would be mean and unproductive.

Sometimes you have to realize that some things are not to be done to an excess. Social media can be very beneficial and healthy for you because it brings you closer to friends and family. How else would you know that Jack just won tickets to a Bruno Mars concert by being the 594th caller? You wouldn’t. Stuff like that you can only find out through Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter.

But here’s where things get tricky. While Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can improve your social life, it can also have a negative side effect on your overall health? Research shows that people typically feel more lonely, frustrated, or angry after using Facebook.

Wait, but I thought Facebook was making my life better because now I know that Jack won tickets to go see Bruno Mars live on stage. Jack even posted pictures with Bruno Mars and after the concert, he signed his T-shirt. That’s a pretty cool experience, I wish there with Bruno Mars. I wish I was the 594th caller instead. I wish I had the chance to take a picture with him. I wish he signed my T-shirt.

You know you’re happy for Jack but you can’t wrap your head around why you feel like you should have won the tickets instead. Did you know, the most common cause of Facebook frustration came from users comparing themselves socially to their peers?

You are happy for Jack. Hell you even liked the picture and commented “Cool man! How was it? Was he nice? Can he really sing?? Tell me everything!”

You also can’t help yourself for feeling the way you do. It’s very natural to see someone doing something cool and adventurous and wish it was you instead. That is call envy. We all have it. While you will most likely always have that feeling for the rest of your life, you can control how many times you feel envious about other people’s cool experiences.

You have to limit the time you spend on Facebook. Logically, the less cool things you see people doing, the less uncool you will feel. Which makes you an overall happier person. Plus, powering-down for a period of time provides opportunity to reset and refocus appreciation and gratitude for the lives we have been given.

If you think social media makes you more hateful, envious, and jealous, you are not alone. Most people who are on Instagram and Facebook on a regular basis experience those same emotions. While you can’t control your emotions, you can control what affects you. Unplugging from social media from 3 hours a day to only 30 minutes is a big step forward. In the future, you will be able to go an entire day without scrolling through Facebook and you will love yourself for it. You won’t always feel like you’re missing out all the time. You will learn to love yourself and your own experiences because people who have to record their fun are probably not having as much fun as they would like you to believe.

Now that you know the world is a paradoxical place; something that’s good for you can also be equally as bad. You still have a choice about what you choose to do with that information. Your phone is an amazing tool. Your life would probably suck without it. But you don’t have to spend every living breathing second on it either because there are other things going around you that needs you to be fully present. At the end, you are always left with two choices, to do or not to do.

– Lens Alexis (Creative Lens Marketing)