when i worked as a photographer, instagram was a big part of my job, so being logged in all the time felt normal to me. at some point, though, opening it had nothing to do with work anymore. i opened it when i was bored, when i was tired and wanted to relax, when i had two free minutes between tasks, and a lot of the time i opened it right after closing it without even noticing.
it didn’t dawn on me for a long time what that was costing me. i stopped reading. i stopped falling down rabbit holes about topics i find fascinating, which used to be one of my favorite things to do. i spent my evenings scrolling and told myself i was tired and needed to rest, but i never felt rested afterwards. i felt mentally drained, guilty and a bit frustrated, with the impression that i had no time for my own projects, that my life wasn’t moving forward, and that everyone on my screen had a more interesting one than mine.
before i get into the exact setup that took me from 10 hours of screen time a day to about 2 and a half (including work, training, and sometimes reading newsletters in my inbox), i think it’s important to look at what keeps us reaching for our phones in the first place.
when i started paying attention to my own habits, the answers were pretty clear. i reached for it when i was bored, when i was tired and wanted to relax without having to do anything, and in the small gaps of the day when i didn’t know what to do with myself for a minute or two. a gesture that began as a way to look at something interesting had turned into my automatic answer to every little moment of discomfort or emptiness.
i used every pause to check something, and i had lost the ability to enjoy a moment when nothing was happening in it. waiting for a coffee, walking somewhere, sitting on the couch with nothing on. all of it felt incomplete until i had something to keep my mind busy.
if you recognize yourself in any of this, start with two small things before changing anything else. first, check your screen time for the past week and write it down. then, for the next few days, make a note every time you pick up your phone without a specific reason. what were you doing, and how were you feeling right before?
you’ll probably start noticing a pattern sooner than you think, and that’s exactly where the real work begins. once i understood what kept pulling me back to my phone, i could start changing the habit itself instead of fighting it with willpower alone.
here’s what we’re going to cover:
how i made social media harder to open
what happened to my fomo when i turned off notifications
the little things i do to fill those empty moments
why simply removing a bad habit isn’t enough to make a change stick
how i use social media today without getting pulled into endless scrolling, and what i do when old habits start creeping back in.
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