What made me delete it?
I was scrolling through TikTok on a random Thursday night with a movie playing in the background when I noticed how anxious I was. I guess you could blame this sudden epiphany on the fact that I was studying mindfulness in my psychology class that week. Regardless, I decided to delete the app that night. My goal was to keep it deleted for as long as possible… it was back on my phone within the week.
The first couple of days.
Within the first 48 hours, I was shocked by how bored I was getting. Naturally, I decided that it would be beneficial to switch one social media app for another. I’m no Instagram lover, but it was next in line for the throne.
Instagram got very boring… very fast.
The switch from TikTok to Instagram was far from seamless. What I thought would be a place of nuance and creativity was actually just a box of repetition. Seriously, if I saw one more engagement announcement, I was gonna lose it. Stalking Taylor Swift’s page for any Eras Tour updates was about the only thing keeping me entertained.
One app led to my revelation.
Around day 3, I downloaded a game app called Block Puzzle. I played while I was on the bus, waiting for classes to start, and, yes, while Netflix was on in the background. After all, one source of media consumption simply doesn’t cut it. But I think that’s the whole issue. It’s not TikTok, or Instagram, or any other form of social media that was leading to my anxiety. The anxiety that I felt that night, and every other night, stemmed from having multiple screens in front of me, all of them battling each other for my attention.
So what did I do about it?
Well, I redownloaded TikTok after that week. I’ve been trying not to scroll while doing anything else, and that’s actually made a huge difference. So to anyone thinking of deleting an app from your phone, I would strongly encourage you to try it! Even if it’s not the app that’s the issue, you’ll find out what is, and it’ll help in the long run.