Lizzo has a truly important message for anyone looking to up their self-care game: Put your phone down and take some deep breaths. At a recent event hosted by the Dove Self-Esteem Project, she encouraged the audience to take a few minutes to disconnect from their devices for the sake of their mental health.
“You spend so much time being kind to your family, your friends—and now you need to be kind to yourself,” Lizzo said. She then encouraged the audience to spend a few minutes with their phones physically sealed off in a container of sorts, like a purse or backpack. “I’m kind of a me time nerd…. Bye, girl,” she joked, zipping her phone up in a bag and putting it away.
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In particular, Lizzo said nasty comments on social media posts have taken a toll on her. “Every time I see something online that hurts my feelings, it helps me remember that the online world is not the real world,” she said. “I control social media; social media does not control me.”
Since this is relatable for pretty much any one of the billions of people who have social media apps on their phones, SELF previously created a guide to improving your relationship with devices. Here are five easy tips from that list:
- Turn off push notifications. This can help you disengage from stressful metrics (such as “like” counts).
- Mute anyone you don’t want to see. Don’t want to unfollow your frenemy? That’s fine—just block their posts, and congratulations on your vastly improved day.
- Comment nice things on other people’s posts. It’s easy to passively scroll, but the experience may be more enjoyable if you’re actively being kind to people. Hit ’em with some exclamation points.
- Set some boundaries. For starters, limit how much time you spend on social media. Then, decide the spaces in which you shouldn’t check it (such as your bed or the dinner table).
- Stop hate-following people. This one should be self-explanatory, but: Hate-following just isn’t great for your mental well-being. Why spend moments of your precious life with someone you’re not into, even across a screen?
We know it’s nearly impossible to be completely disconnected from technology and social platforms in 2023, but taking any one of the small (and easy!) steps outlined above could go a long way in keeping you focused on *happy thoughts.* As Lizzo said (and then had the audience repeat back to her): “I love you. You are beautiful. And you can do anything.”
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