A couple of weeks ago, I deleted TikTok. Which isn’t a monumental thing, but I found that I was spending a lot of time scrolling and bypassing my own time restrictions. The TikTok algorithm had a sort of magical hold on me. A “10-minute break” would turn into an hour, and then suddenly it’s 8:45 pm and I haven’t started any homework. All I’d be left with is exhaustion and guilt.
Others might have more self-control than I do, but as the cycle repeated, I realized just how negatively TikTok was affecting my work ethic and mental health.
I’ve been focusing on spending more time on activities that make me happy or relaxed. Last semester was kind of a nightmare, and I want to start enjoying new things again. I started allocating more time in the day to do things that I love, and it’s really helped me feel more balanced with all of my work.
Here are some things that I’ve accomplished since deleting TikTok!
I started reading a lot more. Here’s a mini book review!
While spring cleaning, my mom and I cleaned out an old bookshelf in our office. I stumbled across a bunch of old books that I had bought but never read from middle school. My first book of 2023 was “The Square Root of Summer” by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. “The Square root of Summer” is a fun sci-fi romance that I definitely would not have understood when I bought it in middle school. Physics and hypothetical theories are intertwined within a girl’s memory of her past summer. Elements of her past begin to reappear, and she’s forced to face a past she doesn’t want to return to.
I read the book like a snack, and it reignited my love for reading. Since then, I’ve read “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover, which was just not a good book. I don’t understand the raving reviews because all it did was make me cringe and laugh but not in the way it was supposed to make me laugh. Both of the main characters are so hateable and I kind of hate-read through the entire thing.
My current book is “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,” which has been a little slow so far, but it’s so beautifully written.
Now, instead of laying on the floor and scrolling on TikTok for 2 hours before dinner, I read a book. While it felt like work at first, reading makes me feel more accomplished, and more refreshed than using my phone.
I also started crocheting!
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still really really bad. I’ve been crocheting the same ugly scarf since my birthday, and I’m still only ⅓ of the way through. Despite its unappealing look, crocheting has been another hobby that lets me turn my brain off and let my muscle memory take the wheel.
I especially like listening to Podcasts or listening to YouTube videos while crocheting. Sometimes feeling mindless is the only way for me to truly refresh.
Lastly, I started watching more shows with my family. I make time to watch at least one episode of a show with my mom before ending my day. It gives me something to consistently look forward to, and it forces me to end my homework before I start feeling miserable.
So far, I’ve watched “The Glory,” with my mom, which is a revenge K-Drama. It’s only a few episodes, but it’s already made me really excited about the second season.
I’ve also started watching “The Last of Us” with my entire family, and I’m really looking forward to the next episode. “The Last of Us” is based on the popular video game, and it definitely satisfies my love for apocalypse and zombie media.
Lastly, I’m currently watching the K-drama “May I Help You” with my mom. “May I Help You” is about a girl who can speak with the dead when she touches them. It’s cute and a little sad, but it’s been a nice end to my day.
Overall, I think that deleting TikTok has made a positive impact on my life. I feel much more fulfilled spending my time on activities that “expand my horizons.” I now know that there’s nothing wrong with spending time for myself after school, and spending time on things that I’m interested in rather than feeling sucked into an algorithm has improved my well-being.