Nurturing Your Digital Garden with Purpose

Chronically Online Series: The Saved Folder, Social Media with Intention, Daily Screen Time, Scrolling and The Addiction to Short Form Content

I know I’m not the only one almost all of us are constantly online, living in a swirl of digital clutter. I have so many saved posts on Instagram, endless videos bookmarked on TikTok, full YouTube playlists to watch later , my Twitter is filled with saved threads, Reddit saves packed with perfume recs I need to check on Fragrantica.

I’ve saved job offers on LinkedIn, scholarships I was supposed to apply to, Pinterest boards full of chaos and way too many books , I collect articles from random websites that seemed important in the moment but now just sit unread in tabs or folders

Recent instagram saves

It’s making me so anxious. I feel overwhelmed, overstimulated, like my brain is constantly buffering. And I’m seriously trying to find ways to stop to break the habit of saving everything for later and start living more in the now.

It's not just on social media apps I have this problem on Spotify too, where I’ve saved podcasts to listen to since 2022 and still haven’t gotten around to any of them. It feels like every app I visit, I have to save something, as if I’ll eventually come back to it

For example, on TikTok, I save perfume recommendations, GRWM , makeup tut videos, outfits I’d love to recreate, endless hauls, France hauls, Japan hauls, and What’s in My Bag content. I crave that content. I go on scroll for hours, watching and consuming everything. Somehow, it makes me feel happy and inspired.

But then I realize I’ve spent 3 or 4 hours on TikTok, sometimes even 12 hours of screen time on days when I’m home, and it’s a lot , unhealthy, I admit. I don’t like it at all, but what can I do? I’ve been obsessed with TikTok since its release .

1,6 k tiktok saves

In my mind, when I scroll, I find a gem and save it immediately, thinking that when I go back, I’ll use it, try the recipe, check the perfumes, or buy the product. But sometimes, I completely forget about what I liked and saved, which shows how short-term content is messing with our brains. I only find peace on YouTube , I’ve been feeling like this for three years always consuming, learning, and everything but the anxiety of consuming everything is taking over.

Yesterday, I read many articles, and a favorite writer of mine gifted me a 6-month free access to her paid content, and I was so soooooooo happy to read it.

I also read

Erifili Gounari

post multiple times this week ( IM OBSESSSSED ), and it was so helpful. I feel good when I read a lot of media, but I also follow almost 200 or 250 newsletters, and I feel the need to read all of their new content, or else I don’t feel good. Am I normal, or is it just overconsumption at its maximum? LOL

literally just do things

I started deleting accounts I didn’t want to follow, but organizing my saved content took me a lot of time because I couldn't figure out why it’s so messy on my socials, haha. My bestie once showed me her saved content on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok, and everything was so well-curated. She only saved a few things, but they were all really organized, with separate places for recipes, outfit ideas, and things to recreate.

I was so inspired by It made me want to create my own, but I couldn’t until I decided to make second accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Now, I have two accounts on each platform, and the same problem persists. My old account has over 4k saves, and this new one is filling up fast too. I feel like this is a bad habit saving content without thinking about what it will actually help me with, or what value it will bring.

I discovered the concept of a digital garden a month ago when I was watching a YouTube video. I was like, I need this so badly ! Then, I started seeing girls on Substack sharing their own digital gardens, and it was so inspiring. I also saw it on Twitter, where girls shared their monthly media consumption videos , articles, Spotify songs and everything was so well-curated, with no chaos. It wasn’t overwhelming, just a perfect curation of content consumed, neither too many nor too few. I felt like I really wanted to create my own digital garden too!

From now on, I will save with intention, open social media with purpose, and not just mindlessly scroll. I’ll aim to read at least 5 articles a day, focusing on quality over quantity. I’ll watch one YouTube video a day, specifically the ones I’ve saved, taking it slow to avoid overwhelming my mind. I’ll curate Pinterest boards with intention, making sure each one is organized and meaningful. I’ll also watch one movie a day, and delete content I no longer find inspiring or useful. I will only follow people who inspire me and push me to be the best version of myself, not just those with pretty pictures or gorgeous photo dumps.

For me, I’ll start posting whatever I want on my socials without worrying about the social media it’s supposed to be fun, not performative. So, sorry in advance if I spam my stories on Instagram! I hope you’ll create your digital garden too and share it with me. I’ll be sharing mine every month, and whenever I save something, I’ll try to do something with it and share it here in my "Chronically Online" series. I’m so excited!

See you soon, and don’t forget to follow my Instagram for more!

My instagram

I'll come back to post here once I've cleared all the chaos from my socials, hehehhehe!