Time Magazine recently had an article listing a number of ways for people to make themselves happier.  It includes letting go of grudges as well as paying somebody to do something that you normally would do to give yourself some more time.  That apparently will give you more happiness than spending the same amount of money that it would cost you to pay that person on something for yourself, because having more time is more important to most people than new things.  

One of the bigger points they make though was how the constant exposure to social media is really beginning to wear people down.  Some studies have indicated that people who use Facebook frequently have poor physical and mental health and much less life satisfaction.  They also found that the more people look to social media, the more likely they were to be anxious.  On sites like Instagram they say it allows us to compare and there is no doubt that sites like Facebook and Twitter have a constant stream of news, some of which is presented in a very stressful way.  The advice includes limiting yourself to one social platform only and also taking a short break – people who apparently cut themselves off from Facebook for a whole week reported feeling far more positive compared to those people who keep using Facebook as usual.  

I myself went off Facebook and I wrote about it in this blog many years ago and I am really glad I did.  I think social media addicts really toss away far too much time which they could spend more happily and productively actually living their lives and doing things that make them happier.  If you are a social media addict, try and limit yourself to one platform for the next week and try, if you can, to take yourself off Facebook for one whole week – even if that requires deleting the app off your phone.