So you might have noticed that I’ve not been active on social media outside of Discord, basically at all - Twitter not posted in ages, Instagram as well, and basically every other. This has been intentional, I hope to give my reasonings here.
Digital Detox
This term has been thrown around the internet a lot. A digital detox being a ‘break’ away from the internet or devices as a whole, either entirely or as much as possible.
I decided to do a small detox at the beginning of March, after I was busy and by chance hadn’t looked at Twitter (not calling it X) for a couple days, and noticed the moment I looked at it again my anxiety levels had spiked, this was the moment I knew I needed to stop. Did I just simply delete the app? No, I decided to use a dumb phone for a couple days.
This slowly turned into a 2 week sprint of not having my smartphone powered on for more than perhaps 15 minutes at a time. Sure this took some time getting used to, and I did at times miss the modern conveniences of a smartphone, but I got by. This ended pretty much exactly 2 weeks after it started after I caved for needing a little more, however I deleted every social media app off my phone - except for Discord, WhatsApp, and Signal.
This detox had taught me a lot about how my phone fits in my life. It certainly is nice to not use and rely on it for everything, but it certainly has its place, just had switched its role from primarily a toy to primary a tool. This feeds into the next section…
Tools Over Toys
I already didn’t use my phone as much as others to begin with, but I still suffered from the habit of doom scrolling and picking my phone up as a habit at idle moments. After my detox and my sim was back in my smartphone, I went through my apps and sorted them into 3 categories:
- Vital: These apps I had to have instant access with in case of emergencies or I needed to know of as soon as. These apps I kept notifications on instant delivery. Includes SMS and Calls from close family, Slack during work hours, etc.
- Informational: These apps I didn’t need to check instantly but I’d still like to be aware of something at a particular time that I pick my phone up. These I turned off push notifications but kept their badges on. Includes Discord, my banks, etc.
- Occassional: These apps I only use sometimes or don’t require knowledge of anything happening in it. These I turned off all notifications, including badges. Includes YouTube Music, Loyalty cards, etc.
All apps were sorted into the above 3 and actioned accordingly. I now only check my phone for these periodically.
Emails I ended up taking off my phone too and only checking it once or twice a day for my personal email and once an hour or so for my work email (again, during hours). Emails I receive are mostly invoices and newsletters so they can wait for me rather than me wait for them.
Idle Gander
I mentioned earlier about using my phone at moments when nothing happened, kettle brewing, waiting on a co-worker to respond to a question, etc. I ended up replacing this with… nothing.
This certainly was boring to begin with, my brain having to cope without the constant dopamine hit of the post from a favourite content creator. However, I eventually started to appreciate this time away, gave my brain a moment off a screen and to feel ‘in the now’, looking out the window, watching the birds in the garden, and so on.
Conclusion
This was certainly a journey, but I’m glad I did it. It has taught me that not everything needs to be digitalised, heck my to do list is on paper again now (I actually enjoy it, very loose following of a bullet journal). It has also taught me however that my phone is still useful as a communicator, camera, and music player in one, but doesn’t need me to be connected to everything all of the time.
I have felt less anxious and annoyed at everything as I have no Twitter or Instagram trying to play at my emotions to keep me engaged. I still get the modern features of a smartphone without the downsides of social media algorithms. I also, ironically, feel more connected to the world when I’m not connected to everyone online.
I hope this article was informative and enjoyable to read!
- Vylpes