look up these words and figure out the best way to do it on your end. i was offline for years after a major addiction & it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I'm back now but I feel like I literally pressed "RESET" and I don't take it all so seriously anymore and actually crave being offline. The only way I was able to do this was about 2 months before I did so, I learned about this and did some research and was able to do it. The first month was hard but after that, it was addicting and liberating!!
Other things that help: turn your phone on night mode at all time OR take it one step further and make it greyscale.
Also look at WHY are you on the phone? Keep in mind, many companies and apps have paid people big money to answer that question and keep you on without even thinking about it. Figuring out your why and relationship with the device is a powerful thing you can do for yourself!!
Also fall back in love with the things you love. I promise there are things offline (& this is coming from a major online digital girlie who's basically an indoor cat lol) that you can throw yourself into. Think about all the things you love or any of your future career goals based on your interests. Even if your goal is to grow on social media/online! You will need to hone in and nurture your hobbies anyways to do so!
Related Recs
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I recently quit a drug I was addicted to for years, and soon after started quiting major social media platforms using the same lessons I learned from getting sober!
Your brain is great at eventually returning to a natural baseline. But until that happens, You'll need replacement(s) to tide yourself over
Here are some options that have been helpful for me:
1. Coloring books + music. It might seem very childish, but its super fun and relaxing without putting you at the mercy of the algorithm or ads!
2. Frame reading as a scrolling replacement. Find some breezy, fun reads to start out with. Short story collections are good for this because its more digestable to read 15 stories over 400 pages than 1 story.
3. Going on walks *and leaving your phone at home*. It's exercise(always good), it puts you into the real world, and its an activity that can last pretty long.
4. Accountability to others. Tell your supportive loved ones that you're quiting social media. It gives you purpose, you're now doing it for yourself *and* others.
5. Phone calls. Bored but don't want to scroll? Call someone! Just put them on speaker and pretend they're in the room with you, just chat!
6. Last but not least, physically hang out with people *with your phone turned off*.
Jan 19, 2025
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For over a year I had the "world's tiniest ruggedized phone". I don't remember the brand but I bet you can google it. Regardless, I still found myself using Instagram and Facebook on the tiny little screen 🥲. When they say social media is made to be addictive I fully believe it. App blockers, making my screen grey scale after 6pm, none of it works. I delete the settings, I remove the blocker.
The best things I've done for myself that is SO much easier said than done is 1. remove the thing from your life that you're trying to avoid and/or 2. Embrace the thing you're trying to avoid.
For me 1. Was a terrible job and 2. Was silence and boredom
Sep 30, 2024
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I like to let my phone die— I often don’t charge it overnight, and try not to plug it in during the day. If you’re able to access work/school through only your laptop, let your phone die, or leave it on the plug in another room.
I also delete most apps from my phone for periods of weeks, and minimally use social media— if this works for you, it can feel very liberating, and makes me feel much less constantly accessible (which I think is a good thing).
Something that helps me is thinking about the flattening of correspondence; before social media, if you wanted to communicate to a friend, it was one-on-one— you might write a letter, or call, or email, but what you were doing was conversational and relational. When we use social media, we flatten a lot of individual relationships into one relationship between us and our “audience.” Instead of sharing a thought or comment intended for one person, and designed for them to reply and continue the correspondence, we put out press releases on our own lives: “this is what I had for breakfast,” “this is a meme about my mental health,” and we become part of a passive audience in our friend’s lives. We end up feeling like we’ve just seen our friends, because we’re “viewing” their lives, but actually apps leave us feeling very isolated and anti-social. Try deleting your most used social media apps, and also schedule a walk/movie night/coffee with a friend.
Outside of radical deletion, pick an audio book to listen to, and pair it with a hands on/tactile activity: you could load the dishwasher, or draw, or try embroidery.
Jul 29, 2024
Top Recs from @xxsss
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I know it sounds crazy, but trust me it's so good! All you need is radishes (sliced into however you want! or keep them whole, that's totally fine!), and just roll them into the butter or use a knife to spread it, and a sprinkle of sea salt, and enjoy! it's so simple, and the flavor and texture combo is out of this world good. delicious thinly sliced radishes with a knife on a mandolin (but be careful!!!) with proscuitto and parsley in a sandwich (or on a flatbread/cracker) as well
Also check out Ploughman's lunches!! it's basically that exact vibe and I'm sure there's some inspo on pinterest!
Apr 25, 2024
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one of my favorite journals is my cooking journal! I have one for each specific year and I write in it monthly, in real time. it consists of my grocery lists, farmers market lists, seasonal produce, meal plans for the week, recipe development (i also have a website i'm working on and a future goal is cookbooks so i'm always journaling this as I work on my recipes!!), meals I had out, dishes from cookbooks catching my eye, recipes i want to try... etc. really, everything food and cooking! it's more of a commonplace book of everything food related where I can develop and create recipes! it's fun to write the recipes out, and you have a place to make notes on what works, what didn't work, what to try, etc. Sometimes I even like to journal what playlists are going with the week - it's fun to see it along side all the cooking. it's always a fun look into the seasons too!
You can also use it to keep track on recipes / traditions you want to remember!
Apr 18, 2024
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I can't tell you how much I love this app. It's a note taking app, but everytime you enter it, it creates a blank document. it makes it seamless to get thoughts out asap!!! It's super basic and bare bones, but having a blank digital document ready as soon as you click the app seriously makes all the difference! They automatically save and sync to your computer if you have the app on your desktop too, so it's easy to sort through and find things.
Apr 17, 2024