Bet you wouldn't think those words would come out of a Social Media Managers mouth right?! Look me either if I am being honest but here we are.
Let's back track a few weeks......
Instagram was having a moment and decided to not only log me out of all my client accounts & in doing so, deleted close to 15 reels I had sitting in drafts across the profiles (luckily I create everything in external apps so i still had the original versions).
This being the icing on the cake of an already shitty week, I had what one may describe as a tantrum. Throwing my Iphone across the room (but gently you know because Iphones are spenno AF) and proceeded to delete the Instagram & Facebook apps for the weekend.
Twelve weeks (yep 3 months!) have now passed and I haven't added them back onto my personal phone & surprisingly the world hasn't caved in, my clients are still with me & life has truly continued on - SHOCKER.
It's no surprise my scrolling hours were so high ... it is the whole reason why I started my business. I was a huge consumer of content (insert ADHD dopamine searching) and do still love watching what other's create and share. The difference for me was it was happening far too much and I knew it, but couldn't stop it (or at least I thought i couldn't).
You know the feeling, we open our phones to search for something or send a text but suddenly find ourselves scrolling IG and wondering WTF did I even pick up my phone? Let alone this happening across 15 client profiles 6 days a week (and stupid times throughout the day).
I will preface by saying I do have an Ipad which I have my clients profiles on so I could still access their accounts if sh*t did hit the fan whilst I was having this break.
After said tantrum occured the first 24 hours I honestly felt lost - thoughts included what do i even do with this phone now? should i just sell it and go back to a Nokia 2315 (if you are born in a decade starting with a 2 you'll likely have zero clue what that even means)
To put it lightly, a true withdrawl process had started.
I realised quickly how much I was constantly picking up my phone and searching for those icons that were once there. This really opened my eyes to how often I was mindlessly online.
Day 2 came around & the app searching was getting less but I did realise how agitated I was feeling and bored even though I had a million other things I could do (or even just enjoy being bored for a moment, what a privilege right)
My original plan had been to reload the apps come the Monday but i ended up forgoting.
I also realised I had slept so much better. Even though I choose to read in the evenings not scroll but I suppose the lack of that stimulation across the day really was effecting me in other ways.
It's now been 12 weeks and I cannot explain to you the difference this has made in my life - I sit here laughing at how pathetic that sounds but it's the truth.
I finally feel like I can breathe again. I'm not always on edge with what I may find or see across my clients profiles or what I 'need' to respond too in that moment.
DM questions or enquiries I was answering still get a response, it's just in a more controlled time frame and via my desktop or laptop not while I am waiting in the car at school pickup.
DM chatter amongst friends and other business owners still happens just via my computer now. If the reply happens the next day ... so what?! If it's urgent they have my number or email & can get in touch with me in so many other ways.
I suppose my biggest takeaway from this whole process has been the sense of relief I have now knowing my Iphone is mine again & without distraction - well except for TikTok because ya girl still has to watch booktok and house DIY inspo obviously....
I'm not saying you should do this too or to the level I have BUT what I will suggest is that if you are feeling like time no longer exists when you log on and scroll or you are just feeling flat and sh*t after being online ... get rid of it for a period of time.
In the past I had tried just logging out for the weekend but when the app was still there the habits creep back and it's so easy to just log back in.
Delete them off your phone and enjoy life in real time again not reel time.
As silly as it sounds, it has been one of my proudest moments in 2024 & one that when asked, I tell everyone to do the same thing.
Meg x
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