To me, new quarters are the perfect way for a fresh start. New routines, new classes, new mindset… but same me. It can be difficult to truly indulge in fresh starts when you’re still very much the same person that you were yesterday. Without making tangible changes, it can feel like the new year is just a continuation of the last. This is totally fine — new years (and new quarters) don’t always need to bring a revolutionary change. However, this quarter I decided to prioritize my productivity and mental health with a simple, tangible change: no more social media.
Is that a bit of a lie? Sort of.
This wouldn’t be a permanent cleanse — just a week-long hiatus. I decided to enter week 2 with no Instagram, no Snapchat, and no TikTok, the three apps that I tend to spend the most screen time scrolling on. Sunday night came and with that, the deletion of the apps came, too.
Upon waking up on the first day, I grabbed my phone (as usual) and checked the necessities — email, text, email again, text again. Once I realized no one important had contacted me throughout the night, I felt a sense of doom knowing that I couldn’t aimlessly scroll. I fought this wave of unfulfillment by grabbing my current book (Sally Rooney can make anything better) and spent a good half hour reading, which I tend to never make time for.
The following morning, I grabbed my phone again and I found myself immediately checking Facebook. Facebook!! I never, ever use Facebook, yet here I was acting like it was my lifeline. I noted this and decided to also delete all my “B” list social media apps, Facebook and Twitter, both of which I was never addicted to begin with. I seemed to be using them as some sort of alternative to be entertained and allow myself to mindlessly scroll. I realized then that it was never the entertainment itself but some habitual desire for instant gratification and a way to escape whatever mundane thing I was doing.
After realizing this, I felt almost relieved knowing that it wasn’t necessarily the social media apps in particular that I was addicted to, but it was the need to be constantly entertained. I found myself then replacing my normal scrolling time with primarily music and NYT crosswords, which, to me, seem much less toxic than knowing every move of every friend-of-a-friend.
I also noted how I was reliant on these apps in more ways than I thought. For one, walking into the library or any other central campus space was more nerve-wracking without the assistance of Snapmaps to warn me of which “characters” were nearby. I also felt at a disadvantage without the modern phone book of Instagram and Facebook to assist me in searching for anyone I wanted to find.
By day three or four, however, I was used to this new “lifestyle.” I admit, I did use the browser version of Instagram to check in on any messages (which tended only to be dog videos from my mom), but I had no desire for the mindless scrolling and my online visits were quick and intentional. I even found myself reading a book on the bus!
At the end of the week, I re-downloaded the apps as I had finished my “quest” to go a week without them; however, I was much more mindful as I learned to function without them. For now, I decided to stick with the Snapchat cleanse (we can’t be sending face pictures back and forth until we’re 40 years old, right?). Instagram would stick to being a .com resource only unless I felt the urge to post something. Chances are, I’ll probably go back to social media as they inevitably are part of our lives and don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. But I am glad I was able to take a step back from it and really analyze its role of it in my life.