I’m the first to admit that getting anything done is hard. There is so much that I want to get done – all the time. I want to write more, read more, paint and be creative, go on early runs and rides. It’s not that there aren’t enough hours in a single day to be able to put time toward what I consider being meaningful activities. What is plentiful, however, is the sheer incredulous variety of distractions. Yeah, social media is definitely not helpful for someone like me who struggles with procrastination. It is just so incredibly easy to lie on the same sofa and mindlessly scroll through stuff. It requires no effort at all.

But does it bring rewards? Honestly – not really, no. You might learn a few interesting things here and there, but mostly it is just a useless time-suck that is proven, time and time again, to have negative effects on our relationships, health and mental well-being. Connectivity without connectedness. Collective solitude and the loss of thousands of hours that we could spend doing something else – something with family, friends, or something for ourselves.

Yet I do acknowledge that social media opens possibilities that nobody could even fathom before they actually happened. We are more connected than ever, overall, and for grassroots movements and activism of all kind, it sure is a great tool (although this can also be harnessed to stir extremism, racism, discrimination, and the like). Our brains are just not wired to deal properly with this new technology. Everything around us evolves and changes so fast that the evolution of our bodies and brains is hugely outpaced. The advent of social media managed to put real connection and the sense of local community on the back burner (arguably, so does living in large cities). We are becoming more distant from our “tribe”. But we are social animals. We have evolved to live in small groups. But our modern life increasingly alienates us from our tribes. It is making us less happy, less motivated.

I wasn’t intending to rumble on like that, so let’s swing back to the original line of thought here. With all present-day distractions and my incredible talent to procrastinate, lose and do nothing, I tend to quietly celebrate every task that gets done, every bit of time I put aside for school work or creative endeavours like a big achievement. I also understand that it is a reason why I love to move and exercise so much. It gives me the feeling of having accomplished something. And, just like Aaron Stuber from the Thought For Food podcast once said years ago: I feel like shit when I don’t move my body – because that is my identity. 

So, I am taking this space here to pose a challenge to myself; to widen my sense of self to include writing, reading, meditation, creativity and mindfulness. Maybe then I’ll get somewhere. Starting anew with a blog I previously tended to from 2016 to 2019 is a good step in that direction. In that regard, I welcome you to go on this journey with me.

At least I’ve already learnt to keep my phone far away from my bed so I have to get up to turn off the alarm; beating the snooze button as a metaphor for doing the things I set out to do.