A month off Instagram
Herein lies the tale of the genesis of #aMonthOff, my self improvement challenge for 2017.
Of all the social networks, Instagram is where I spend my time. I signed up back in October 2010, when the service was only weeks old. The next week I went up to Far North Queensland and posted some lovely and heavily filtered photos despite the lack of reliable internet up there. I loved it and I’ve used it pretty consistently ever since, reaching 1,660 posts or roughly one post every day and half over 6+ years. For most of that time, I never thought that Instagram was a problem although I would probably check it 20 times a day, spending way more time liking my friends’ pics that actually posting.
A few months ago depression started to creep into my life, a combination of work pressure, relationship strain and my own high expectations of myself starting to overwhelm me. By the Christmas holidays I was over-sharing, 3 – 5 posts some days and looking at the app dozens of times a day. It was more than a little obsessive.
So on December 29th I realised that the best thing I could do would be to take a break from Instagram. I posted a selfie with a ‘bye for now’ comment and deleted the app off my phone, promising myself that I would not look at it for a week or so. When I got back to work I asked my workmates how long would be appropriate for a digital detox like this. They were adamant. It would have to be a month. 😳
So a month it was. Here are some things I noticed during that month…
- I took a lot less photos. Actually no, I took a lot less Instagrammable photos.
- The photos that I did take, I showed to my friends on my phone. That was quaint.
- In turn, my friends told me tales of doggy memes.
- Instagram sends you an email every week if you haven’t opened the app, telling you how many new likes and comments you have. That was excruciating.
- For the first few weeks I still looked at my phone just as much, checking the weather, The Guardian and my step count numerous times each day. While my steps had increased each time, the weather and the Guardian don’t update very frequently.
- It got easier after a few weeks.
- I felt slightly better, able to focus on being present.
After a month (30 days precisely) I re-installed the app and started using it again. It felt different. Here are some things that have changed since I got back on Instagram:
- I’m only posting every 2 or 3 days
- I’m only opening the app a few times a day
- I deleted most of the meme and brand accounts from my feed
- I turned off all the notifications
- I’m not too concerned about what people are doing. I no longer feel the need to scroll all the way down to the last photo that I saw.
Well if you can quit Instagram for a month…
At some point in January a question popped into my mind. If an app can have this much impact on my life, what other things are influencing and affecting me in ways I don’t understand? To explore this question I decided to quit something different each month this year and see what I can learn about my relationship with stuff. I want to see how my energy, focus, weight, happiness and other characteristics change and it’s super scientific because I’m only changing one thing at a time yeah?
In February, I’m having #amonthoffbooze. It seemed like a good idea to get that one out of the way sooner rather than later. I’ll post insights from my dry Feb in a couple of weeks time. In March it will be a month off dairy and in April a month off meat. That one will be a big challenge as I can’t remember having three days in a row without meat in my entire life. Keen to find out what happens though! Subsequent months are still TBA although I have had some excellent suggestions already; months without shoes, soap and smartphone being some of the more extreme challenges. Someone suggested December should be a month off work. That’s a great idea. I’ve been pretty much paleo since before I discovered Instagram so I’ve had plenty of experience without sugar, gluten, other grains and legumes. Some of that may have to be reintroduced for my month of meat I guess. And caffeine? I did a month without caffeine last year. Please don’t make me do that again.
If you’ve got any suggestions for a month off something, let me know. If you’d like to play along at home, please do! And check back soon for more insights from self control central.
