Selena Gomez took a 90 day break from using her phone: could you do this?

Selena Gomez is the most popular person on Instagram with 99 million followers. There must be a lot of pressure that goes along with that. Although some Instagram models and personalities genuinely seem to enjoy it, it’s got to blur the lines between social media and offscreen life, like Instagram starts affecting your choices and behavior so that you work to stage that perfect shot instead of enjoying the moment. It sounds like it definitely affected Gomez, along with the stress from her career of course. She canceled dates on her tour and checked into a treatment facility this August for her mental health. Gomez spok about that in a heartfelt speech at the American Music Awards, explaining that she was “absolutely broken inside” recently but that she kept it together on the outside. She said “I don’t want to see your bodies on Instagram, I want to see what’s [inside].” She was able to put all that aside recently with her rehab visit, particularly because she put down her phone for a full three months. She described it as relaxing and says she only uses her phone now when necessary.

TG: Tell us about your relationship with your phone. Does it sleep with you?
SG: I recently took 90 days off. During that time I did not have my cellphone. It was the most refreshing, calming, rejuvenating feeling. Now I rarely pick up my phone, and only limited people have access to me.

TG: How do you deal with email?
SG: I don’t. I do better over the phone!

TG: You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do with it?
SG: Self-affirmations in cooking or napping!

TG: When was the last time you felt burned out?
SG: Three months ago, before I took a hiatus to take care of myself.

TG: Share a quote that gives you strength when times are tough.
SG: “You are not what happened to you, you are what you chose to become after what happened to you.”

[From ThriveOnline via US Magazine]

I have been thinking quite a bit about growing up in the 80s with the quaint technology we had (VCRs, cassette decks, phones on the wall.) The Internet was only starting to be text-based when I was in college. There was something relaxing about not being connected all the time, although I know I’m romanticizing it too as there were a lot of missed connections. Now we have so many advantages from technology but it can be hard to unplug. There are some measures you can take short of just not using your phone at all. One of my friends started turning off her phone around 8pm, so that she could wind down and go to bed without aimlessly checking facebook or news sites. That’s something I should do too. This job makes me think I need to be on all the time, but that’s not the case it can wait. If the most followed person on Instagram can go without updating her page for three months I can turn my phone off for a period of time before going to bed.

photos credit: WENN.com

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