Every new year I shut down all my social media. Normally it's just 21 days to break the cycle of all the habit loops I am stuck in. "The Morning Scroll" as my bother puts it. That nagging FOMO(Fear of Missing Out) as you first open your eyes. Wondering in past 6 hours since you were asleep, (most of my friends were too) did they do sometimes cool or post LIT photo. I’ll be honest the withdraws are real. The phantom notifications can be felt. The creators of the apps know how to get into my head. Thankfully this wasn't my first rodeo so I have learned a few tips and tricks to make it through the social media detox.

Set up a finish line

Set a goal. 2 weeks, 21 days, one month. Write it down, say it out loud. If you got people you talk to on a normal basis then give them a heads up send them your phone info. If you are afraid to give them your phone number maybe they aren’t a real friend. Normally I do 21 days, about 3 weeks. This time I went in for the full month because I had a few friends that were doing a social media fast at the end of the month so I joined them. But I pick an end game. I am visual so I need to see the finish line. So I put on my calendar an END of Detox.

Destroy the drugs

Just delete them all off your phone. ☠️ Block them in your browser. If you want to get extra crazy and bring everyone else in your household into the deep dark and twisties with you. Block them on your router too. MWAHAHA. You don’t need the apps there to tempt you with their siren calls of fake social interaction. If your like me and you run a few other social media accounts fine leave them on. I logged out of all my personal accounts tho. Moved the app icons in a folder on the very last screen all alone in the dark zone. “Bad social media! Mind control is very naughty. You stay in the corner and think about what you did.”

Plan Ahead

Pick some activities, events that will fill that void, read some books, go to the library, go on an adventure. Read an actual article in a newspaper or magazine. Yes, things still get printed on paper. And if all else fails, try talking to and actually being with real people 😱. No not real people! 😑

Stay strong.

If you fail and look or check out it something online it’s ok. But don’t do it again!!! No, but give yourself some grace. I forget every year how much social media creates this shallow need to “feel liked” with hearts, thumbs ups, and smiley faces. You can do it. Find a few close family members and friends to do it too.

It’s over now what?

This is where I am today. Now what. Here’s what I learn every time I do this. I don’t really need social media to live a fulfilling life. No matter what, life still goes on if I miss all the 24-hour self-destructing stories and snaps. I will probably get sucked back into the hole of shallow, highlight reels of envious lives of people I think do cooler things than me. I killed my personal Facebook tho. #win Deleted all my “friends” and set it private since FB holds on to a piece of your soul if you try to delete it. I set some new goals this year. I am reading two books every month and limiting my time on social media to an hour a day. (Rescue Time for my computer and Moment for my phone help me keep track.) I am an early adopter by nature so I'll probably never be rid of this cycle. But at least for today, the phantom buzzes have subsided and I don’t run to my phone for every notification.

TLDR; Taking a break from social media is good. Fill the double tap void with real people and experiences that make your life better.