About six months ago, I made the decision to delete my social media accounts except for LinkedIn and YouTube. This decision was not inspired by a YouTube video or a meme on Instagram.
It came when I realized I had stopped observing and experiencing the world around me when I noticed I constantly checked my apps mid-conversation when I recognized I doom-scrolled until I fell asleep.
Quitting these apps has been the best decision of my life.
Then there was the mental impact of wasting time on these apps.
The quick dopamine hits would wear off, and like a fiend, I would find myself back to endlessly scrolling.
Consuming nonsensical content.
Absolutely destroying my brain, my attention span, and my ability to stay present.
Let me paint you a picture of what life is like without endless social media.
01The Moment Is Yours
How often do you find yourself witnessing something amazing or breathtaking, and your first thought is to capture it on your phone so you can upload the picture or video to Instagram?
Step outside and wait for a beautiful sunset and you will see people consuming that wonderful moment through their phones, not to store the memory for themselves, but to upload it in hopes of receiving likes and attention.
They are not living for the moment. They are living for that little dopamine hit from an app.
I used to be like that.
It had become a reflex for me:
See something amazing. Reach for my phone. Take a picture. Upload it to social media.
Social media had me trained better than Pavlov trained his dogs.
Ever since I quit these garbage apps, moments now feel different. There is a sense of belonging with every wonderful experience I have. I have no reason to take a picture or share it with anyone. I get to enjoy it unfiltered and unobstructed.
The moment does not end when I am done taking pictures. It ends when I have fully taken it in. And that makes the moment mine.
02Boredom Dies With The App
No one in the history of humanity has accepted boredom. We have found creative ways to keep ourselves entertained and in that quest, some amazing inventions and ideas have seen the light of day.
That quest ended when social media invaded our lives.
As soon as you feel bored, you pull up an app on your phone and start scrolling through an endless sea of memes, pictures, and reels. On public transport, everyone is glued to their phone, scrolling away in search of entertainment. At a bar, people drink with one hand and scroll with the other.
Your boredom dies with the app so does your creativity and soul.
I no longer have access to a sea of memes, pictures, and reels. I cannot make my boredom disappear with a meme or two. I have to get creative when fighting boredom.
I have picked up everything from reading and learning to play the guitar to learning a different language, solving the Rubik’s Cube, starting math all over again, chasing weird certifications, becoming an ordained minister, fencing, and skydiving. The list goes on.
Am I an expert in any of these things?
No.
Would I have attempted any of this had I been doom-scrolling?
No.
Boredom was the spark I needed to become more.
It is what you need to connect with who you truly are. Don’t let these apps take that from you.
03Brain Rot To Brain Thought
Before social media, I did not believe in the term “brain rot.” I thought it was one of those Gen Z slang terms that only they understand. Turns out, it is real.
Brain rot is a collection of negatives that affect your mind: lack of attention, lack of patience, lack of interest, lack of comprehension, an inability to stay focused, constant daydreaming, mood swings, memory recall issues, sleep problems, and lethargy, just to name a few.
Reading this list, you might think these are symptoms of a serious neurological condition. In fact, they are well-documented effects of social media addiction and doom-scrolling. It is so severe that we are seeing a decline in the cognitive abilities of children and university students, with lower scores in language, math, and basic reasoning.
I cannot say for certain if I had brain rot, but I know that after deleting the apps, I have found myself calmer and more focused. My attention does not wander like it used to. I do not get bored easily, and I now have the mental energy to power through tedious tasks.
I also find myself questioning narratives more rather than taking them at face value. When opinions and facts were presented by accounts with millions of followers, I assumed they were true. Now I question, research, and actively choose what I consume rather than passively accepting what social media shoves into my head.
Do you want to be an active participant in what you consume or do you want to let social media decide for you?
One leads to brain rot. The other leads to brain thought.
04The Power Is In Your Hands
“I use it to share pictures of my children with family and to keep up with my friends from high school.”
This is a common excuse I hear when I suggest deleting social media
But what is wrong with calling them, sending an email or organizing a get-together?
You don’t want to delete it because:
- You have become a passive participant in your own life.
- You want to do the bare minimum to stay in touch.
- You have nothing else going on in your life.
- You want to consume without question.
- You are addicted and in denial.
And the longer you stay, the stronger the hold.
If you want to break free and rediscover who you truly are and who you can become, then you know what you need to do:
Delete the apps.
If you are interested in learning more about what social media has become, I urge you to watch a well-researched video I made on the subject.
