What I Learned From A Month Without Social Media

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Queen's U chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I was a slave to my phone. It was the first thing I looked at when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I saw before going to bed. I was tired of feeling constantly unproductive and relying on social media dopamine hits to get me through my day. There were so many other things in my life I wanted to make time for, but they were crammed out of the way in place of mindless scrolling. So, I decided to challenge myself and go 30 days without social media to see how it made me feel. Let me spoil the article for you: it was a great choice and I suggest you give it a try too. 

The truth is this “social media” detox was a lot more than just social media. I knew one thing for certain: if I wasn’t scrolling on one app, I would scroll on another. So, I deleted everything. Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Pinterest, and every random phone game I had accumulated over the years. I logged out of Netflix on my laptop and resolved that I would only use technology for school, work, and essential communications. 

The Initial Crash 

The first few days were hard. I realized how often I actually reached for my phone in a single day and how much I leaned on it while completing basic tasks like eating a meal, walking to class, and even going to the bathroom. I kept refreshing my emails and scrolling through my photos just to look at something. When I wasn’t working on school work and didn’t have energy for anything else I just laid in bed bored– but here’s what I learned. 

The boredom is good. You need to let your brain get used to not thinking about anything. Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, a lecturer in the Division of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard, says doomscrolling can give us “popcorn brain,” which happens when we are constantly overstimulated from spending too much time online. Because of this, she says that it becomes “hard to engage with the real world, which moves at a much slower pace.”

Replacing the Habit

You can’t be bored forever, so you need to find something to replace the time you spend scrolling. Having a balance between productive tasks and things to do in your downtime to unwind is the key to success in this phone cleanse. 

I made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to make consistent time for the gym, carve out time to pray, stay on top of school work, make intentional time for my friendships, keep in touch with my parents, keep my room organized and my laundry done, and take up a hobby like painting or drawing.

The moments that I found were the hardest times to stay away from technology were at the end of the day when I didn’t want to do anything but lay in bed and watch a show or when my alarm first went off in the morning. I learned to fill this time with listening to music, journalling, reading and stretching.

The Upside 

These habits were not easy to implement at first but by day four or five I broke the habit of constantly grabbing my phone. I didn’t feel as dependent on it anymore to get through my day and I was excited to do the alternatives I had planned for myself. 

Suddenly I had more time for everything. I was able to do the things I usually procrastinated like school work and chores. I slept so much better; cutting out late night TV and Instagram reels helped me fall asleep faster and actually stick to a bedtime that worked for me. My days overall were more active, so come bedtime, I was ready to sleep. By the two week mark, I really started to notice my attention span getting longer.

I was just generally happier; my mind felt clear and I began to discover who I am and the things I enjoy in life, beyond the people I follow and the content I consume. 

The Lies We Tell Ourselves

The biggest thing I learned from reflecting on this experience is that we are told, and we tell ourselves, so many lies to justify our habits. We believe that we need to keep up to date with the things our friends and influencers are posting on a daily basis. We believe we won’t be able to get through the day without scrolling. We believe that we need to constantly share our lives with others and post to feel a certain sense of accomplishment. The truth is that it is entirely possible to live without these things and I think taking 30 days to prove to yourself that you can live without leaning on your phone so often can help with maintaining a healthier relationship with social media. 

Sustaining This Progress

Obviously, fasting completely from social media and online content consumption is realistically unsustainable. So here are some practical take-aways from this challenge and things that can be implemented in your daily life to stay away from social media, boost productivity and break phone addiction. 

1. Part with something. You definitely don’t need an account on every single social media out there, so start by parting with a few apps. 
2. Unwind for bed screen-free. Refrain from using technology an hour before bed. Blue light stops your body from releasing melatonin and makes it harder to fall asleep. 
3. Be mindful of the content you consume. There are a lot of great resources online like educational podcasts and YouTube videos – choose these compared to mindnumbing brainrot.
4. Save screen time for the weekends. If you’re watching a show or craving a movie night, save it for the weekend.
5. Use time limits. Adding time limits to your apps can be a helpful tool to limit the time you spend on them without totally restricting yourself. 
6. Use social media in-browser. Deleting apps like Instagram off of your phone and using them sparingly on a computer web browser is a great way to limit constantly checking the app.
7. Put your phone in grayscale. Because your brain craves colour, having it in grayscale does not give you the same dopamine stimulation, making it less entertaining.