Preparing For Your Reset - The Three-Day Social Media Reset

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” (Ephesians 5:15-16, NLT)

Welcome to the three-day social media reset, an unplugged experience that will allow you to reconnect with God and reclaim your joy. While there are many awesome things about social media, it can negatively affect the quality of our lives if we’re not careful. It can harm our mental health, distance us from God and others, and keep us from living abundant lives of peace, joy, and contentment.

The rise of social media has coincided with significant increases in anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and loneliness. We are hyperconnected yet emotionally isolated. We are digitally connected but more polarized than ever. It is possible that our world has never been more anxious, afraid, divided, depressed, suicidal, or lonely.

As we have become consumed by social media and our phones, we have turned away from God and fallen spiritually asleep. Social media is a world we weren’t designed to live in. It can keep us from living out our purpose, experiencing joy and community, and leading a meaningful life.

Every second we spend online matters. Seconds on social media become minutes, become hours, become days, become weeks, become years. Everything we look at and listen to on social media can shape our lives and who we become.

Before you start your reset, hide or delete your apps so you won’t be tempted to access them. (Don’t worry—you can redownload them after this reset.) Whenever you feel the urge to access your social media apps, open a Bible App instead. Spend as little time as possible on your phone and on all media and use the time you get back to do more restorative offline activities that improve your well-being and deepen your relationships.

To begin, access your phone’s settings and check your screen time to determine the average amount of time you spend on your phone and social media each day. Now, let’s put that number into perspective. (These estimates are if you begin using social media at age thirteen and continue until you’re eighty):

• If you use your phone for one hour a day, it means you will spend approximately three years of your life on it.
• If you use your phone for two to three hours a day, you will spend roughly six to eight years of your life on it.
• If you use your phone for four or more hours a day, you will spend eleven or more years on it.

You’ll never find what you’re looking for on your phone. A better life awaits if you don’t conform to the social media circus. Jesus invites us to a better, flourishing, and abundant life. But to find it, we must leave behind worthless distractions like comparison and endless scrolling. Are you ready to get your life back, your joy back? Let’s go!