S
o last time you heard from me, we were talking about the perils of Social Media (SM) addiction. It’s now a recognised problem, especially amongst the younger demographic, and when we consider the fact that yachting is by default a bit of a younger person’s profession (research shows the average age people start on yachts is 22-30, and stay in the industry up to 8 years), coupled with being away from home, family, friends and mentors for long periods, we can safely assume a large percentage of crew could be overusing social media platforms.
In the past we didn’t always have internet onboard, and also didn’t have free roaming across Europe so having to hop off and get local sim cards wherever we went was not only a major pain but also not always possible! These days wifi on board is pretty much a given, and the fact we can roam on our cheap pay as you go sims makes being connected far too easy. It’s harder than ever to manage our screen time and let’s face it, a large number of us are online almost constantly.
Checking my feed was becoming obsessive. On the advice of a friend I downloaded an app which really helped me bring it under control again.
We’ve talked about the negatives of SM addiction so now let’s focus on how we can help ourselves stay healthy.
The main point raised by everyone, is to limit your usage. Schedule your time: set aside a specific time each day to catch up on SM, then make sure you step away. There are even apps out there designed to help you with this; Freedom, Moment, ZenScreen to name three, and two of those even work on desktops if you’re office bound! Whatever method you use, try to stick to it. Pick a time - it might be first thing in the morning, lunchtime, after work, but avoid checking your SM before bedtime as it could affect your sleep. Chief Stew Zoe* told me, “Checking my feed was becoming obsessive. On the advice of a friend I downloaded an app which really
helped me bring it under control again. I had been isolating myself and sitting in my cabin rather than interacting in real life. I still go online but now it’s considerably less, and if I see any of my junior stews displaying the same signs I am able to help them avoid falling down the rabbit hole too. Deckhand Tom* agreed with the sleep issues, “I used to always check my feeds in bed at the end of the day and not only would I end up staying up later than I had planned, I’d have trouble switching my brain off and getting to sleep. When I started waking in the night and reaching for my phone I realised I had to stop – I was exhausted during the day and that’s when accidents happen.”
Unfollow pages or people that don’t make you feel good. We all need to remember that many of the posts we see aren’t reflective of real life; don’t forget people generally only post the good stuff. So don’t you dare compare your life to theirs.
If you find the notifications are a distraction or worse, give you anxiety, then switch them off. That will also stop you from checking your SM when you’re not supposed to. First Officer Doug* said, “Rather than ruthlessly ban all devices during the working day which my captain did once – there was near mutiny onboard, I request that the whole team switch off their notifications. If they can’t manage that, then at least put their phones on silent with vibrate off so there’s no distraction when we’re working. It’s ridiculous I have to enforce it but safety first, especially on deck. If I’m up the mast and the guys below are staring at their phones instead of monitoring me, well that’s not going to end well for anyone.”
Before you log on, try and set yourself a bit of an objective. How many times have you gone onto a platform to look at something specific, then an hour later find yourself watching endless fail compilations or dog videos, or just endlessly scrolling looking
for something… anything? Make yourself focus on the initial task that you wanted to carry out (i.e. reading the post you’ve just been tagged in) and then log off once you’re done.
Now this is a super important one… Unfollow pages or people that don’t make you feel good. We all need to remember that many of the posts we see aren’t reflective of real life; don’t forget people generally only post the good stuff. So don’t you dare compare your life to theirs, you don’t know the half of it. After a week of 20 hour work days anchored off Ibiza, clearing up the partying guests’ vomit from the master suite, scrubbing skidmarks off the toilet and taking a verbal bashing off a drunk deckhand, that dreamy Sunday bikini clad stew selfie clutching that bottle of rose on the Cote d’azur might be a reflection of that particular afternoon, but it’s certainly not of the past 2 week charter from hell. Influencers, businesses and organisations will be posting stuff to make you want to buy/follow/want their products. If you find your feed full of things that leave you feeling overwhelmed, or notice a dip in your happiness or self esteem, then it’s time to chuck out the trash.
Easier said than done? Sure, we can unfollow businesses or influencers as they won’t notice/care. But actual “friends”? And harder still – often it’s family members. So, if it’s too political to unfriend a person on SM then you’ve got options. Snooze them, or hit unfollow, then you’re still connected but won’t see their posts unless you actively seek them out. And don’t forget you can put people on restricted so they only see
If you find your feed full of things that leave you feeling overwhelmed, or notice a dip in your happiness or self esteem, then it’s time to chuck out the trash. If it’s too political to unfriend a person then snooze them, or hit unfollow, then you’re still connected but won’t see their posts.
ONBOARD | SPRING / SUMMER 2020 | 29
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