Here come the New Year Resolutions!

Yes indeed!

And here's a suggestion for anybody who shares this problem I have with staying connected till they pass out.

I don't have a television in my house because a couple years ago I decided I was going to stop wasting my attention on things that made me miserable. Television and anti-social media had a way of doing that to me. So my resolution was to get off facebook and throw away my television. This has been one of the greatest resolutions I ever successfully committed to - although I probably shouldn't say successfully as there are some things that didn't change. I removed facebook from my phone, but I still log into many other sites online and end up having a facebook tab open because of friends who reach me through it. I still spend a significant amount of time connected despite wanting to use the time I was spending on social media for better things in the real world. I went through short periods where I wouldn't go online at all for about a month and I got good at restraining myself eventually.

But then steemit happened

I am completely addicted to steemit and for that reason I'm trying to set some boundaries! I believe setting New Year Resolutions can be counter-productive. Making lifestyle changes once a year means you end up with a pile of bad habits you want to change all at once, which is a difficult thing to do and failing can be demotivating.

They say it takes 30 days to create a new habit. When you are trying to kick a habit it is also often useful to replace the habit with a new one. So this is just the first resolution of the year, and the plan would be to add another step to improving this aspect of my life every month.

Bed Time Routine

That's right! At 27 years of age I'm going to force myself into a bedtime routine, where I have to be in bed by a specific time Sunday - Thursday. (We all need a cheat day or two)

Before I explain the simple routine let me tell you why I need one. Since I've gotten back into social media, steemit has me stuck to the phone! It isn't good for me or my relationships in the real world. I don't even notice the time some nights and go to bed late still reading my phone. I end up not getting enough sleep and the first thing I do when I wake up groggy-eyed is open steemit on my phone!! If I happen to have replies or see something I have to respond to I might even make myself late for work over it. Again, this is not good for me.

Here are a few other reasons I need to kick this bad habit.

According to the video above:

• my attention is faltering
• my memory is impaired
• problem solving is a greater challenge
• and my metabolism is getting messed up

all because I'm not getting enough sleep.

People love to connect with each other. This is what makes steemit so addictive - even more so than other social media platforms because the moment they start blocking your view of your relationships with advertisements and promoted content people feel disconnected and stop using those avenues to connect. But health comes first!

Disconnecting before bed

At 10pm every night I have an alarm set to plug my phone in OUTSIDE MY BEDROOM

That's when I start to do everything I regularly do before I go to bed - clean any leftover mess in the kitchen, wash up and set my alarm.

I've bought myself an old fashioned alarm clock and a watch for helping me wake up and get to work without looking at my phone first.

This is a small step towards bettering my lifestyle. I believe in taking one step at a time to increase my chance of success. When February comes there'll be another resolution. If you've ever struggled to keep your own New Year Resolutions consider trying just one small change at a time rather than your entire lifestyle at once. And don't be hard on yourself if you have too many cheat days. Just re-evaluate and try again, a different way because...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Native speakers only.

Google translate not permitted.