ABC’s “Selfie” & A 24 Hour Tech Cleanse

As a lifestyle blogger, incessant event goer and trend forecaster, I am constantly on my phone managing all three in addition to my work and social life.

With the launch of ABC’s pilot episode “Selfie” I was challenged to go 24 hours without using my beloved iPhone (though having it for emergencies.)

Let me tell you, the first hour was a bit of a wakeup call. 

No scrolling through my library of photos to find the perfect one to post to my Instagram, absolutely no music streaming from my Spotify Premium account (this was tough as the same 5 songs are always repeating on the radio) and not an iota of group texting with my girlfriends over the funny things currently going on in our lives.

I realized how attached I am to my phone for about 70% of my daily routine, from ordering food and clothes on it, to paying for my morning coffee at Starbucks (I actually had to find my plastic card that was lying neglected in one of my Summer handbags) to tracking my afternoon workouts.

Now let’s address the positives. I was forced to make sure I was living in the moment, not just capturing it. 

As I am currently making a rather significant life change, 

I was taken out to lunch by a group of my coworkers. 

Instead of Instagramming our delicious looking spread on the table or responding to the incessant notifications on my phone, I enjoyed each and every quip, not missing one piece of our conversation.

I realized this social cleanse could not have come at a better time. 

So often we can get caught up in how many likes our latest photo has received or comments/hits our favorite post of the week has gotten, we are too preoccupied to enjoy the company of those that know and like us far more than any of our internet based followers.

Many of us use our phones as a bit of a security blanket, being preoccupied with it while alone in a crowd of people is a lot easier than standing there wondering if people are judging you.

It also helped me connect with Selfie’s social-media fixated Eliza Dooley that wants to try take a break from what some of us would consider to be “internet infamy” and instead make sure she is truly living her life in real time.

Premiering Tuesday September 30th at 8pm, I encourage you to tune in to this romantic comedy about learning to live in the moment and see just how much you are able to relate to Eliza (it’s freakish.) 

I even challenge you to try a social cleanse of your own to find out just how refreshing it is.

Have you ever considered taking a break 

from social media, even for a few hours?