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5 Things I Learnt from a Social Media Detox
Sound familiar: mindless scrolling of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok whilst you’re watching TV, in a meeting, on the toilet? Yup same here. I found myself in a mindless scrolling habit and it was getting me down. I was stuck in a rut of not enjoying social media but unable to tear myself away from it. A pacifier that was no longer pacifying.
It was time to do something about. 10-day social media detox. Yup that’s right, I deleted all social media for 10 days. Here’s the five things I learnt from that.
1. Thought I’d have FOMO… but didn’t
Social media fills up with new content faster than you can consume it because everyone’s there. Would I feel that I’m missing out because I’m no longer participating? Turns out…no.
For the first few days I noticed I instinctively picked up my phone but there was nothing there and it felt a bit…odd. I wouldn’t say it was a ‘missing out’ feeling more like noticing a reflex. I hadn’t appreciated how often I was picking up my phone until I removed social media and realised there wasn’t much else to look at. Eventually I had fewer pickups of the phone itself. I was surprised how quickly my brain adapted.
The night before the detox I ceremoniously deleted all the apps and felt a bit of FOMO trepidation; I almost didn’t go through with…
