How I quit social media for a month… and then ended up right back where I started

As a tech journalist, I'm pretty much always online. With that sometimes comes certain habits that are not necessarily conducive to either productivity or mental health. I'm pretty sure most people would relate to that statement, regardless of profession, to say the least.

My current bugbear? It's definitely my social media usage. Like many others, I've been scrutinizing my own habits in the wake of the increasing public backlash around social media. Ethics and morality aside, my conclusion was pretty simple - I'm just wasting too much time on these apps.

In short, I'm sick of the distractions, and, as a Millennial, I'm old enough to remember when I wasn't just mindlessly scrolling on a screen. I'm old enough to remember when Facebook was just a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg's eye, in fact.

Subsequently, this past month or so, I've been on a real drive to get my online habits in shape. The results, after a strong start, have been... mixed.

Diagnosing the issue

To be honest, I've never really cared for Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. I've always thought LinkedIn was quite lame, and X/Twitter is obviously a cesspit to be avoided at all costs. I've always steered pretty clear of all the usual suspects with a kind of haughty pride, all the while ignoring my own ballooning Reddit and YouTube usage.

I've noticed (ironically, while scrolling through these apps) that people tend to give these platforms a kind of 'soft pass' when it comes to categorizing what's harmful and what isn't. Self-help sub-Reddits and YouTube vids are full of stories about 'digital detoxes' without a hint of irony. Perhaps I'm too critical here, but in my experience, these apps are just as addictive as the others.

And when you work on your home PC, as I do most of the time, it's exceptionally easy to get distracted, regardless of the app. A five-minute check for updates or news can turn into half an hour of scrolling through completely irrelevant content. Before you know it, you've wasted significant time with nothing to show for it.

Of course, we all have slow days, but I can't ignore that over the past few years, I've found it increasingly difficult to focus on all sorts of tasks. Even things that have usually held my interest, like say, reading a book, have been increasingly difficult. It's usually not long before I find myself scrolling Reddit or Google Discover.

If it were just eating into my productivity or my free time, then I could live with a little scrolling. The issue, for me, is that it distracts me from things I love to do, like reading or playing guitar. Even when I specifically schedule time out to do these things, I usually find myself distracted.

The first few weeks

From my previous attempts at quitting various things (namely caffeine), I knew that cold turkey was going to be the best approach. For some people, gradually reducing usage is effective, but it's never worked for me at all. I usually opt for the 'walk away and sweat it out' approach (admittedly, with varied results).

So, I resolved on a pretty simple path. Close all Reddit and YouTube tabs on my browser, delete the apps on my phone, and then just 'do other things'. The things in this case are my job, my hobbies, reading physical books, and so on. It's a crude approach, admittedly, but I was hoping that a bit of discipline would do most of the work while the dopamine slowly drained from my brain.

For the first few days, the approach did actually seem to be working, too. Aside from the expected boredom and restlessness, the difference was stark immediately. With no 'easy' options to fill space, suddenly I felt as if I had a lot more free time.

More work was getting done, I was enjoying my hobbies more, and even my apartment was looking a lot tidier. So far, so good - it felt like significant progress was being made here. Even better still, I wasn't even missing Reddit.

Where I went wrong

So why am I writing this? Well, obviously, I fell off the wagon. Just a month later, I'm almost back at square one, albeit with a resolve to curb my usage again.

Where things started going pear-shaped was about week two or three. I was enjoying recording music in my free time so much that I decided to pick up a new bass. This seemingly innocent decision is where I made a critical error.

In researching what to buy, I did what anyone would do - start with a simple Google search.

Cue a host of results with Reddit threads and YouTube videos detailing a whole list of products. Anyway, you can imagine how things went from here. Reading threads and watching videos 'strictly for research' turned into checking out the front pages for relevant content. Almost subconsciously, I found myself falling into the old routine of mindlessly scrolling through Reddit without much thought.

Editorial sites like TechRadar are increasingly being squeezed out of search results in favor of social media, which might be good or bad, depending on your viewpoint. Regardless, it makes it increasingly tricky to find information without being pulled into the swirling pool of social media. These sites permeate so many platforms now.

Although I'm more or less back at square one now, I do have a much clearer perspective of where to go from here. For one, I'll make sure I don't violate my self-imposed ban for any reason whatsoever (even when 'researching' products). Secondly, I think I'll book some time off work in the not-too-distant future to get some quality time away from my screen.

I'm wary of the term 'digital detox' because it reminds me of some kind of self-help fad, but in this case, I'm sure some time away from screens would massively help set habits straight. Fewer distractions, less nonsense content, and hopefully, more time to focus on the things that actually matter.