Social media plays a huge role in our society today.
In fact, research shows that American Millennials spend more than 5.7 hours on their phone every day, with 2.5 hours spent solely on social media.
I’ve been using social media for almost 15 years now (Who remembers Xanga?). That’s more than half of my life. Through the years, I’ve come to realize how addicted I’ve become with social media. I wanted to see what my life would feel like once I plugged out, which is why I decided to quit social media for 90 days.
After 90 days of quitting, I feel much happier, less anxious, more energetic, and more clear minded than ever before. I never thought I could feel so empowered just by saying no to social media.
If you’re interested in taking this challenge or thought about quitting social media altogether, keep reading on.
Chilling Facts About Social Media Addiction
If you ever thought about quitting social media but are still on the fence about it, here are some interesting facts about social media addiction that you should know:
- Social media addictions affect 210 million people worldwide.
- Among 4 out of 10 young adults in America have trouble sleeping because of social media.
- 50% of people use social media while driving.
- Social media addiction can deteriorate communication in relationships and marriages. Researchers have found that frequent monitoring of a spouse’s social media account causes more misunderstanding and jealousy.
- Social media addiction disrupts how we get information. According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of adults in the US say they get their news from either email or from social media.
- Social media affects teenagers the most, with 13% of 12–17 year olds reporting depression and 32% reporting anxiety.
- The rate of young adults who contemplated suicide and other suicide-related outcomes increased by 47% from 2008 to 2017 due to social media.
All in all, social media has made our lives more convenient, but they’ve also caused considerable damage to our general mental health. It’s more important than ever that we unplug from social media, even for a while.
Quitting Social Media For 90 Days
I was scared to quit social media at first, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. I mean, how would I keep up with my friends and family members now? What if I end up getting depressed from having nothing to do? I had so many questions racing in my mind, but I wanted to give it a try.
Before I Quit
Before I started the 90 Day Challenge, I had to first decide which social media platforms to quit. In today’s day and age, anything can be considered social media, even iMessage. I figured that if I could define social media more clearly then I could zero in on why I was addicted in the first place.
To me, social media are the kind of platforms that we use purely to feed our anticipation. For example, we go on social media because we anticipate our friends messaging us back. Or we go on because we anticipate that one of our old posts will go viral, or to check the number of people who saw our Story. We also go on anticipating one of our favorite Instagram influencers to upload something new and controversial. We check social media because we hunger for that feeling of excitement and adrenaline rush almost like a drug.
With this definition in mind, I decided to quit four social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Before the challenge, I deleted the four social media apps on my phone. I even deactivated my accounts just in case. I also cleared up my history and deleted the cookies on my browsers.
I knew that if I didn’t take such extreme measures, I would end up slipping back to them again. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
Day 1 to 21
The first few weeks were challenging. There were moments when I would compulsively unlock my phone without even thinking and start to look for the Instagram app. I ended up opening the news app at least 10 times every day because the news app was where Instagram used to be. This experience hit me really hard. I didn’t know that I was checking Instagram this compulsively until now.
Before I went to bed every night, I left my phone to charge in the bathroom. Ariana Huffington once said that she tucks her phone inside a bed in another room every night. That way she doesn’t get distracted by work stress and to-do lists. I tried her routine so I wouldn’t get distracted by my phone and accidentally install Instagram in the morning.
Leaving my phone in the bathroom caused me the most trouble during my first week. Every morning I would wake up and scramble to find my lost phone only to realize that I left it in the bathroom the night before. After the first seven days, I got used to this new routine.
I knew that quitting social media cold turkey would be extremely difficult, but I wasn’t prepared for the mental stress that it would bring me. I was consciously trying to change a fixed habit that my brain was used to. Like many people, my brain was hardwired to check on social media all the time. When I wasn’t getting the usual dopamine hits, it started to send stress signals to urge me to go back. I had to constantly fight back this urge.
I read somewhere that it takes about 21 days for a new habit to stick. While it’s different for everyone, I definitely noticed my habits slowly changing after three weeks.
In week 3, I started depending on my phone less. Instead of looking for my phone in the morning, I would stare out of my window and gaze at what was outside. I’d admire the color of the sky or the flock of birds flying together and just appreciate the moment for its beauty. It’s as if I had all this mental space to start appreciating what was literally in front of me rather than what was on my phone.
I also didn’t get that feeling of anticipation as much every time I got a notification. Now, I know that my notification is either the news, email, or an update about my Uber Eats order (which still gives me stress from time to time).
All in all, the first 21 days were some of the toughest but most eye-opening experience during this whole challenge.
Day 22 to 60
After about a month passed, I began to feel more mentally at peace. I joined a reading challenge club on Goodreads to help me pass the time and keep me distracted. I also started a gratitude journal to help me stay focused on why I was quitting in the first place.
I started waking up at 6am and jogged every morning. There were a few times though when I thought to myself, “gee, wouldn’t it be great to take a picture and show everyone on Instagram what I’m doing?” The human mind works in mysterious ways sometimes.
After 60 days had passed, I almost forgot about social media. There were times when my friends would ask me if I heard the latest news about a celebrity or about a friend and I would have no idea what they were talking about.
Instead, I found myself wanting to genuinely know how my friends themselves were doing. I wanted to know what kind of hobbies that they picked up during the crisis, how they were coping, and how I could help in any way. I realized that human to human communication allows us to sympathize and form empathy with the people we talk to better than we do on social media.
Conversations during dinner with my family were also very interesting to observe. I noticed that my dad would eat his food while watching the news on his 12.9 inch iPad right in front of his face, same with my mom and brother. I didn’t realize that my family lived in their own digital spaces even though we lived together under one roof.
All in all, the second month wasn’t as challenging as the first. I became more observant of my surroundings and picked up some good habits to replace my old ones.
Day 61 to 90
The last month of this challenge flew by quickly. After two months without social media, I stuck with a daily routine: Wake up at 6am, jog, go to work, come back home, eat dinner at 5:30pm, read a book or watch movies on Netflix, and go to bed at 10. I repeated the same routine everyday until it became like a religion to me.
Rather than feeling boxed in, I felt much happier with this daily routine. It’s as if my life was much more organized and I didn’t need much to make me feel happy.
I also had all the mental space to think about what I wanted out of life. Around day 60, I had an urge to start a food vlogging channel on Youtube. I decided to take my dslr and visit food markets and street food stores and shoot every weekend, which I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. This also helped me stave off any temptation to go back to social media.
On day 90, I felt like a different person than when I was first starting. I felt healthier both mentally and physically. I noticed feeling less anxious all the time. I also craved genuine interaction with my friends and family.
Another side effect of not being on social media was that I learned who my true friends were. I learned that I didn’t need 1,000+ friends to make me feel happy or validated. In fact, I began to question the purpose of having so many followers on Instagram in the first place. Why did I care whether or not certain people saw my Instagram Story? Or how many people unfollowed me? I’ve never said anything more than a “hello” to them. That’s when I realized that the people I met for only two hours at a random college event aren’t really my close friends, but just people that I know.
My real friends are those who stuck with me throughout this challenge, sending me words of encouragement from time to time and still finding ways to meet up with me.
All in all, quitting social media for 90 days changed my life in 180 degree fashion. I feel genuinely happier and more satisfied with having less.
Now it’s my turn to invite you guys to take this challenge. If you experienced depression or any form of negativity while using social media, then I highly recommend taking this 90 day challenge.
You’ll feel much lighter as you stop filling your head with other people’s nonsense.
Take back control of your own life, and start living the way you want.
Originally published at http://peekingbuddha.com on September 28, 2020.
