Quitting social media was the best decision of my life

It was one of those days. We just had dinner and were lying idly on the bed. The silence in the room was interrupted by the frequent message tones that came from our phones. My wife was just at arm's length from me. Her lips curled into a soft smile as she concentrated on her phone, she looked like a small child who was about to open a gift.
All of a sudden, I realised that smile was not for me.Her gaze was transfixed on her screen, It might have been anything. A funny video on Facebook or a message from a friend. She was so near me, yet so far.
“What are you reading?” I asked.
“What?” she asked. Her eyes still gazing steadfastly on the screen.
I didn’t reply. And just kept staring at her for seven long minutes and she didn’t even realise it because she was so busy with her phone.
“When did we become this couple?”
“What couple?” My question was met with another question.
“The ones living under the same roof covered by a blanket of silence!”
I caught her attention. She stared at me and showed me her phone. “I was just commenting on the photo you posted on Facebook. It’s hilarious. Already 57 people have commented!” she exclaimed.
I was taken aback by her words. It has been four hours since I reached home from the office. And I had already posted seven pictures on Instagram, retweeted a few tweets about Kerela flood and posted a couple of pictures on Facebook (including the ones I took with my wife during our weekend). When I checked my post, I was surprised to see my wife’s comment: ‘I like it when you wear blue’.
I never knew she liked that and I realised it only when she posted it on Facebook while we had been sleeping in the same bed!
I knew I needed to stop this and decided to take a break from social media.
A month after the social media detox
It was unlike one of those nights. The laughter of my wife filled our bedroom as I shared how my day in office went. I could not help but watch her as she got up from the bed and rushed to pick up her phone which was ringing in the other room.
After deciding to quit social media we also made a few rules—no mobile phones or laptops will be allowed in the bedroom, no attending calls after 10:00 pm, catch up with friends once a week over a cup of coffee and not through Facebook or other social media platforms.
In this one month, I could see a vast change. I was spending more quality time with my family. Instead of chatting with friends, I now started meeting them in person. But what was remarkable was how relaxed I was after quitting social media.
There was no longer the pressure to take my family on a better vacation then my friends because their pictures on Facebook shouted what a good time they had. We now enjoy eating rather than taking pictures of the served food. The mad rush to keep updated with everything that was going around didn't interest me any longer. I was leading my life the way I wanted to and read what I wanted to.
It wasn’t easy at first. I almost had a ‘cold turkey’ in the first week. I wanted to recreate my social media account and peek at what others were doing. It felt like I was left behind while the world was constantly moving ahead. It was difficult but not impossible.
A month after shutting my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all other social media account, I can proudly say that it was the best decision of my life!
—By R. Kashyap