This time last year I decided to quit social media, and I can proudly say it’s been one of my best decisions.
Why I quit.
It's not like I made the decision overnight. I knew something was wrong but I guess you could say I beating around the bush. I was comfortable using it so why should I quit?
I was wasting so much time using Instagram and snapchat. I think I was using Instagram 2 hours a day at one point, which is mental! It made me feel overwhelmed as I was being bombarded with stimulation. These apps are designed to trap you for as long as possible. They’re literally engineered to be that way.
I felt like I was never really present. I was n autopilot. I was constantly zoning out and multitasking. It was extremely frustrating. I was living a distracted life, constantly itching for the next notification, or the next text.
Social media made my life seem inadequate. People were doing the craziest shit on their stories, everyone was having the time of their lives. What they’re not telling you is that they’re picking out bits and pieces of their life to showcase. Of course they’re not going to show the day’s dull parts. The worst thing about it was the feeling of guilt. I could’ve been more productive, and used my time wisely. It was slowly chipping away at me.
Life without social media
Listen, I’m not gonna bull$hit you and tell you some cliché that I completely made a 180 and suddenly became a multimillionaire or something. The changes were subtle at first.
I saw life in a different colour. Experiences were more authentic and I didn’t feel pressured to make everything into a new insta post. I was much more focused and this helped me study better for my senior year at school which is another benefit. It helped me become more aligned with my priorities and take the necessary steps to become the person I wanted to be. The biggest game changer was that it helped me developed into a more educated person you could say. Social media has a tendency to make you into a sheep and force other people’s opinion onto you. Talk about toxic.
Signs you should also quit
You’re behind on deadlines.
You keep procrastinating.
You’re constantly frustrated.
You’re zoning out constantly.
Sleeping late.
Spending more time on your phone than with real life friends.
Having that feeling that you could’ve spent your time better.
How to quit
If I convinced you quitting is the way forward for you, you’re probably wondering how.
I’m pretty sure you’ve heard advice telling you to ‘just quit’. Let’s hear a big round of applause. That’s definitely noble prize worthy. It almost never works. It’s like telling a smoker to just stop smoking.
What you have to understand is that big changes can be chopped down into smaller steps.
Personally, I started to slowly decrease screen time, and I set app timers. Next, I started to delete instagram, and download it on weekends only. The last step was to permanently deactivate my accounts. Those baby steps made it simple to kill off the bad habit in the end. My advice would be to slowly quit. Stop making excuses like:
“How am I supposed to contact people?”
“People would think I’m ignoring them.”
“ I’m going to be a complete loner.”
All of this is probably just in your head, take it from a person who’s been there.
Benefits
Recently, I downloaded twitter and you’re probably thinking I’m a hypocrite. The truth is that social media can be extremely beneficial if you’re using it the right way, and if you have the discipline to manage your time. People make millions of pounds on social platforms, because they’re using it to their advantage. It’s a double-edged sword. I’m not anti-social media, I’m just against wasting our most valuable asset, time.
At the end of the day you don’t HAVE to quit. To each their own. Just remember to value your priorities.
See ya next Friday!
If you think this is helpful, send to a friend! 👇
My 2nd month without social media totally sometimes you get the urge to download them back and just tell yourself i will only see whats new and whatsoever but the truth is that you'll never get enough of it as you mentioned its literally designed to trap you there the way almost every app is designed to be scrolled downwards is very sus like why is every single social media app have the same scrolling mechanism or algorithm if i were to use the accurate term it's very suspicious tbh.
Extending the list of advice you gave Abdullahi i think a one that could be very helpful is having events in your day that can possibly distract you from social media try filling your day up to the point where you don't have a time for the peice of metal that took your life im not saying you need to disconnect from the world although it can be very useful in these times but at least try reducing the time u spend on your phone.
Enjoyed reading today's letter 😍
This couldn't have worded better 💯