I was watching an interview by Elle of Saint Levant the other day on YouTube. If you don’t know who Saint Levant is, he is French-Palestinian rapper who raps in Arabic, French and English. He blew up on TikTok with a clip from his latest visualiser for a song entitled ‘Very Few Friends’. When asked about how it felt he responded “I only spend one hour a day on socials. I like to get my dopamine rush in one go. So I had no idea until I checked my phone the day after.” 

As an artist myself, I need to get better at setting such boundaries. Levant’s comments really inspired me. I honestly believe that spending so much time on;ine prevents creation and Levant is really onto something here. 

There are many psychologists who suggest a full one month detox from social media without realising that if many of us did this we would simply lose work. However a partial detox wouldn’t hurt, I’d suggest the following;

– Do a Saint Levant: Go on TikTok for one hour which consists of inspo sourcing for your own content and posting said content

– Edit your content outside of the app: this way you won’t get distracted by notifications. I like InShot.

– Continue using WhatsApp and Email and don’t feel guilty about it – you need to pay them bills honey 

A major downside to spending time online is low self esteem. Battered self-esteem can dissuade you from sharing your creations online. How many times have you withheld from publishing your art because you felt as though it wouldn’t compare to your peers’? Spending your mornings creating instead of comparing yourself to an algorithmic newsfeed will get you feeling more refreshed. 

Furthermore, your best ideas won’t come from pecking at what an algorithm serves you. Instead, step away from it so you can get the mental space to reflect on your own thoughts and stimulate deep thinking. Yesterday I posted a TikTok that had been in my drafts for ten days. It has received 450,000 views in 24hrs – that’s 50k off being considered a viral video! The video shares my thoughts on unrealistic beauty standards. I was having these thoughts while my phone was off and I was deeply invested in this random 1997 Jennifer Aniston movie I was watching on Disney Plus to unwind. If I hadn’t had my phone off and just lived my life, I wouldn’t have developed the idea that grabbed the attention of 450,000 people – so far. 

Go offline, see what happens.