what I’ve learned from my social media fast

Every year I take some time away from social media. It’s usually a month-long period where I try to see what removing social media actually changes in my day to day. This year, this period was July and I specifically took a break from both Instagram and TikTok. What can I say? The short form videos really get me. You don’t need a Brick to do this. It’s as simple as declaring an intention and then making it happen.

You miss big announcements

I think people try to comfort themselves with the lie that they’re not missing out when they take time away from social media, but the truth is, you don’t always get information first. People love to announce big news on social media before it reaches other avenues. You will hear about things later, but that’s okay. It teaches you that knowing everything right now isn’t always important. (Also a key thing to learn in the news industry, but I digress)

Your ingrained bad habits do follow you

You may automatically assume that all of your free time will be spent writing the next great American novel or preparing to run a marathon. You will likely find yourself watching more TV or scrolling on fashion websites to keep the dopamine coming, leading to overconsumption. This acknowledgement is real, because while social media does reinforce bad behavior, we often feed into it in so many ways. And maybe this is a good time to unsubscribe from all those mailing lists.

We take in so much information everyday

Attention (and time) are both nonrenewable resources. We end up consuming so much information that we don’t even remember why we so urgently wanted to scroll. We feel overstimulated and wonder why we feel so off, so prone to anxiety. This time away allows you to take stock of what you’re consuming. How does it make you feel? Are you a happier, healthier person when you’re on social media? What virtues or vices is it cultivating in you?

Related Post: The Opposite of the Aesthetic Life: Acceptance

Gratitude is a practice

We often think giving thanks is from effortlessly acknowledging all the good overflowing from your life. The truth is that our target for what meets our standard for gratitude changes all the time. Gratitude doesn’t happen by accident. You have to intentionally decide that the things you have today—health, joy, a warm bed to sleep in—that those things are worth giving thanks. It’s as simple as being grateful for a mug of tea steaming in your hands. Keep practicing.

Want is devouring

I don’t have to be scrolling to want that new bag or that new phone or that new skirt. I can literally just walk the streets of New York City and be filled with envy. Contentment comes when I decide that what I have is enough, and I do truly lack nothing. All that I need I have. And there have been times where I wrestled with God, thinking I didn’t have what I needed. But I’ve always had enough. I could stuff my closet to the brim with the latest of everything, but I’d still want more. Want consumes and consumes and it’s never satisfied. I choose to be satisfied when I look around at all I’ve been given and say “thank you!”

Related Post: What we consume, we crave

I don’t prioritize the right things

When I’m not beholden to a screen, I find myself eager to move my body, to pick up my books, to reach for a recipe to bake. All the time that we think we never have, we really do. It just got lost down a neverending algorithm. We think that we’re just online here and there, but the truth is it’s almost as if the life on the tiny glowing box is more real to us, than the flesh and blood life we’re living. In order to do the things we said we’d do, we have to put the phone down.

The difficulty ends

At first, there’s always a sense of desperation or reaching for your phone repeatedly and that lessens day by day. Once you get a taste of a lovely sunset or feel the endorphins after working out, your real life will really become sweeter because of how much you’re nurturing it. Don’t let the fear of missing out or the agony of missing your “phantom limb” keep you from enjoying what your non-digital life has to offer.

Set a time. Delete the app(s). Go put your energy elsewhere. Paint. Read. Go on a walk. Dance. Sleep. Hang out with your friends. Explore your hometown. You can do it 🙂

Signing off,

Gigi