The Social Life: Time to start living in the here and now

By Alison King

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Deleting social media apps from your smart phone is a good way to ensure you spend more time in the real world.

Did you make any social media New Year's resolutions?

In this day and age where our whole lives are played out on social media some people are turning their back on the apps and trying to reclaim some sense of pre-smartphone normality.

While some of us have resolved to get on Instagram, others are deleting social media apps from their smartphones.

One of my friends has done this so she spends more time in the real world. Instead of checking her phone multiple times a day she can now only interact via social networking when she uses her laptop. This means her undivided attention is given to whatever she is doing at the time.

Do a quick Google search of "no social media" challenges and there are plenty of examples of people giving up social media completely for a set time and what benefits they gained from it.

Can you remember life before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like? I remember phoning my friends, reading books and going outside to see people.

I don't remember the urge to check my phone every five minutes while out for dinner either, though I am trying this year to be more present.

There are some restaurants in the United States that will give you a discount on your meal if you check your phone in when you arrive, a way to make sure other diners aren't interrupted by your phone but also ensuring your full attention is on each other and the food.

You can make this a challenge among your friends - place your phones in the centre of the table and the first to pick theirs up during the meal (to check for messages, Facebook etc) has to pick up the bill.

While 2014 is going to be another year of living life in the now and online, why not try and see how you can be more present?


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