I quit social media for six months: Here is what changed
Six months ago, endless doomscrolling and constant negativity took a heavy toll on my mental health. Deactivating my accounts triggered intense withdrawal, but stepping away finally allowed me to reconnect with real life.
Many of us cannot imagine going even one day without scrolling Facebook or posing for Instagram. Often, we do things for the sole purpose of posting on social media, and this has become bad enough that it can be called “social media addiction”. After all, the behaviour has all the tell-tale signs of it! Doomscrolling, along with all the negativity on social media, was taking a heavy toll on my mental health, so I decided to quit six months ago.
The detox week
The first week after deactivating all my accounts was a very difficult one. In fact, it was much harder than I expected. We do not realise how much and how often we jump to social media, but this becomes evident when you are trying to avoid it.
I realised that I had been using social networks while dining, on the bus, at the tea stall, watching TV, talking to people, walking, and cooking. I remember constantly getting the phone out to log on to Facebook, only to remember that I am not supposed to go back.
It sounds easy on paper, but the compulsion is very real, and not giving in is a struggle.
Learning to cope
By the second week, my habit of constantly reaching for the phone was noticeably diminishing. By the time it was a month, the compulsion was no longer a struggle; it became a temptation that was easier to resist.
However, there are challenges — your friends are still on social media, and they want to send you messages and memes. Besides, most people, including our parents and family members, are using some sort of instant messaging app. Sometimes, there are even work-related group chats that you need to be part of.
For these purposes, I kept one instant messaging app on my phone. This allowed me the ability to text and call using the internet without the hassle of social media.
Another challenge is that sometimes you will get very bored. And I mean bored to the point of rage. A good example of this is waiting for something in a line.
When you have a digital ecosystem as a companion, you do not realise how excruciatingly difficult it is to stand in a queue doing absolutely nothing. You will have to learn to cope with it using a different method other than social media.
Unlocking the 25th hour
Remember how we always say “there aren’t enough hours in the day”? Well, it turns out there is more than enough; we just cannot use it because we are too busy.
After quitting, I was shocked to realise that my screen time had reduced by at least three hours a day. This meant I had three additional hours in my hands. And as an adult with a full-time job, three hours is worth a lot.
Now, I can read, I can write, I can meet my friends, I can engage in hobbies and still have time to do the chores. Turns out, time is not the problem; this whole time, the problem has been the time wasted on scrolling.
Reconnecting, rediscovering and recovering
The best thing to come out of this journey was how I learned to see myself outside of this bubble and how breaking it allowed me to reconnect with everything.
When you are on social media, you see your friends’ photos and stories, and you learn what they are up to lately, so you do not bother talking to them. Without social media, I have to actually speak to people on the phone. As a result, the relationship with them has grown more intimate.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. With less screen time, I have time to focus on hobbies and even start new ones. I am less concerned about taking photos for a profile picture and more focused on the moment. There is a different kind of joy in enjoying the moment for itself and not being in a rush to capture everything on camera.
My mental health has got a lot better. With all the ranting and aggressive posts on social media, I used to get very anxious and disturbed. Sometimes the fake news really bothered me; other times I used to get upset for hours after seeing a disturbing post. I do not have to face that problem anymore, and my mental health has improved as a result.
Overall, the past six months have been nothing short of a journey, and I am glad that I made the decision to quit social media. Sure, sometimes the temptation is there; but then I remember how much better everything has been without them. If you are struggling with your mental health and procrastination in general, quitting social media can be of great help.
Why not give it a shot?
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