I didn’t delete my accounts. Just no more posting nor scrolling through the news feed.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

As a big fan of Cal Newport – who gave the TED talk ‘Why You Should Quit Social Media’ – and author of ‘Deep Work’ and ‘Digital Minimalism’, it was an unplug that was long overdue.

And it didn’t feel like a ‘social media detox’.

Or a ‘hiatus’.

It was more of a lifestyle choice.

Being a strong introvert who craves solitude and puts a premium on privacy, cutting off social media was liberating.

It felt like I’ve been swimming haplessly upstream, against the current of a raging river, and I finally got on a lifeboat.

It felt like being in the cockpit of a fighter jet going down fast and pressing ‘EJECT’, launching safely away just before it hits the ground.

I used to think it was impossible to quit social media.

What if my business suffers after I become invisible online?

What if I get clueless and uninformed about current affairs?

What if I miss out on my friends’ updates?

(and *gasp*, forget to wish them happy birthday after Facebook reminds me that it was their birthday that I never bothered to remember?!)

Despite these doubts, I did it.

And never looked back.

Disclaimer: By the end of this article, I will NOT ask you to quit social media.

While I’m convinced that doing so would bring immense benefits to your life, I still acknowledge that it is not common to do so.

Personally I’m a big fan of taking the measured approach.

Instead of quitting everything cold turkey, start making small steps.

I’ll talk about those steps later in this article.

For now, here are my 3 biggest takeaways from my first year off social media:

3 Things I Learned After 1 Year Off Social Media

#1: Quitting social media made me profoundly happier.

No more compulsively checking my phone for notifications like a manic hamster.

No more wasting countless hours consuming mind-numbing posts that have absolutely no benefit whatsoever.

And the best part is: no more feelings of hollow emptiness after being overexposed to other people’s carefully-curated photos depicting their seemingly perfect and ever-awesome lives.

The random bouts of anxiety went away as well.

I found out that there was a real, neurochemical effect when we become continuously exposed to the picture-perfect lives of others.

Despite how ‘happy’ you may be for that person who may have just graduated with first-class honours or enjoying their ‘much deserved’ vacation in Mauritius – you may still feel depressed, exhausted, envious or miserable.

Especially once the thought of ‘what am I doing with my life?’ creeps in.

There is a real emotional and psychological toll that you pay when you are exposed to other people’s unrealistic lives portrayed on social media. 

And there are also real cognitive effects – like diminished focus and attention span – that can completely destroy your productivity.

Sure, social media can be a great source of fun and entertainment.

But peace and happiness should never be a cost for amusement.

#2: Quitting social media made me realize that it doesn’t take much to get addicted.

Like every addiction, the first few weeks will be rough as your body adjusts to it. But once you get past that initial withdrawal phase, it gets easier.

And if you actually go back to social media, you’d realize you haven’t really missed much.

The gap that was created from quitting social media, I unconsciously tried to fill it up – by watching ten times as many Youtube videos!

Fortunately, I caught myself before it got out of hand and started curbing my Youtube consumption as well.

I found that even months after going cold turkey, my hand still automatically reaches for my phone to check for notifications.

Then I’d realize that ‘oh wait, there’s nothing to check.’ And I’d go back to what I was doing.

Get this: social media companies hire ‘attention engineers’ to carefully construct social media apps to mimic casino slot machines.

Social approval transformed from something we needed occasionally to something we needed all the time!

Social approval became the latest drug. And it was made free for everyone.

Social media apps are purposely designed to make us addicted.

Billion-dollar, attention conglomerates like Google, Android and Facebook want you to be hooked on their apps because they profit from your monopolizing your attention.

The more addicted you are, the more likely you are to consume and provide them with information that they later sell to advertisers.

I’m sure you’re already aware of this. I sure was… even while I was using these platforms for years.

But I still kept using them.

And that bothered me a little.

I can’t live a focused and meaningful life of peak performance if so much of my time and attention is wasted from mindless scrolling.

And the reality of knowing I was an ‘addict’ was just too painful to bear.

So it made sense to me to make an effort to reclaim my life.

#3: Quitting social media made me think about what really matters.

According to TechJury, the Internet user of today spends an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media.

So I asked myself, if I could get an extra 2 hours and 22 minutes per day – what would I spend them on?

Turns out, I could do a lot.

Writing, meditation, morning workouts, reading and spending time with my closest friends. These are some of my habits that became more regular… only after I left social media.

The cumulative effects are huge.

I received many great responses from my readers, closed more deals for my business, reached new levels of fitness, had more time to think and started forming REAL connections…

…the ones that didn’t require sending Friend Requests.

Best of all, I didn’t feel the need to broadcast these wins to people who hardly know me (or even care)… in exchange for their Hearts, Likes and congratulations.

Quitting social media didn’t just make me happier, it made me ask some hard questions.

Am I writing posts to actually help others or to reach a new high score for number of reactions?

Do the accomplishments I post actually motivate people or are they causing them to secretly resent me?

Does my profile actually reflect who I am or is it just the over-exaggerated facade I want people to believe so that I can impress them?

After I got social media out of the way, I made the decision to be more ruthless in cutting out the trivial things in my life – like media gossip, mindless Youtube videos or spending too much time at the office.

I prioritised things that made me truly happy – spending afternoons at the library, working on creative projects, going on meaningful mini-retreats or serving my community.

—

I can’t express how beneficial it is to put a cap on your social media consumption.

But like I mentioned earlier, I’m not asking you to quit cold turkey.

Even for digital minimalists like me, I don’t go to extremes.

Instead, I have certain workarounds in place to curb my on-screen time.

Instead of deleting your Facebook or Instagram account, you can download simple apps that track and limit your consumption. I use ‘Stay Focused’ on my Android phone. It blocks me from watching videos and playing mobile games after 12 am.

Even after quitting Facebook, occasionally every quarter, I’d monitor my tagged photos on Facebook.

But other than that, I spend relatively zero time posting or scrolling my news feed.

For my work, I ensure that I maintain an updated, professional presence on LinkedIn (despite being heavily inactive).

And I still keep Youtube as a primary source of news and entertainment, while having Youtube Blocker as a Chrome extension to limit my usage.

If you’re serious about curbing your screen time and cure social media addiction, there’s always a way.

Let me know how I can help. :)