Recovering Reel Addict

I deleted the Instagram app from my phone about two weeks ago. It’s always funny at first – my fingers try to go where the app used to be and tap. This opens some other app which is now in its place. This really shows my dependence on the app. It’s become muscle memory.

I am happy that I went ahead with uninstalling. I thought I would struggle more with quitting but I could not have been more wrong. In the first week, I did not go on my Instagram at all. Not even because I forced myself but because I simply did not feel the need to. In the second week, I accessed my feed and the chat through the computer.

When I tracked my time two weeks ago ("Fingers in Pies") my brother responded to the post-newsletter by saying that he had recently also uninstalled Instagram from his phone. He added that he still used its chat function sometimes, but only from the computer. I discussed this further with a friend who is also a recovering reel addict and we both agreed that the computer interface is the way forward. We still get to see the informative feed we signed up for while avoiding the doom-scrolling in reels.

I feel like that’s what social media was initially about. It is supposed to be a place where we can go once a day to check up on the happenings around us. With that one viewing getting to see what people we are interested in are up to. Instead, what it has become, is a soul-sucking void to drown all of our boredom.

I believe that reels/TikToks are not the problem, it's the way we consume this type of short-form content that is problematic. I noticed myself going to the reel feed at any point at which I felt either bored, uncomfortable, anxious or tired. It was the easy way out of all responsibilities.

I hope this inspired you to try to have a little social media break for a few days! Try it out, it's a lot of fun!

This Week's Suggestions:

🎶 "ball w/o you" by 21 Savage:

This song has a very special place in my heart. I remember vividly when I first listened to it. The album came out on the 24th of December 2018. At that time I was in Estonia. I was listening to this very song when walking to my sister's place on a snowy winter day. It is a bit of a random memory in itself but I cherish it a lot.

🎬 4 ONE-MINUTE Habits That Save Me 20+ Hours a Week:

All the productivity content I consume brings up the same points, but the analogies differ a little bit every time. In this video, my favourite idea is that we should treat getting to work like going to the cinema. You prepare yourself to be sat down for 2 and a half hours so what do you do? You go to the bathroom before and prepare snacks.

🎧 Jordan Peterson: Life, Death, Power, Fame, and Meaning | Lex Fridman Podcast:

I am about an hour into this podcast with Jordan Peterson and it is a pretty heavy hitter (in a good manner). Lex Fridman brings up interesting subjects which include but are not limited to the divine. I also like that the first 10 minutes are spent dissecting a quote from Dostoevsky's "The Idiot".

Have a beautiful day!