How I Quit Social Media (And You Can Too)

I used to reach for my phone in every free moment, scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat without a second thought. But eventually, I noticed how this habit left me feeling oddly numb, as if my real life had faded into the background. I set out to change my routine and reclaim my life.

This is how I quit social media. Good to know : we answer the frequent question: is YouTube truly a social media site ? I wasn’t quite ready to quit social media use cold turkey. So I decided to take a preliminary approach.



I didn’t immediately jump to delete my social media accounts; I just made sure they were a lot more inconspicuous. I keep most of my social media apps on my Android device, so the first thing I did was disable ALL notifications for them, including Facebook Messenger. This helped me quickly eliminate the social media distractions.

To disable notifications for an app on Android, go to Settings -> Notifications -> App notifications . Toggle off the switch next to the app. For a more granular control, tap the app and allow certain notifications to go through.

For instance, I left the Birthday notifications for Facebook on. On your iPhone, go to Settings -> Notifications . Tap the app, and toggle off Allow Notifications .

The next thing I did was make sure my close friends and relatives were aware that I planned to decrease my usage of these apps. I reached out to everyone I kept in touch with via Facebook Messenger and agreed to keep my social interactions to WhatsApp. Since I didn’t plan to give up social media 100% yet, I also checked my social feeds to make sure they included the content I wanted to see (when I eventually got back on the apps).

I used some of these tricks to clean up my Instagram feed . I also trimmed down my Facebook friend list and decided against keeping people I really didn’t know and haven’t interacted with much over the years. Tip : it would also help to make your Facebook as private as possible.

With my social media apps set on silent mode, I proceeded to set up a weekly schedule for checking my socials. I decided to pick Saturday as the day when I was going to indulge in a little scrolling. It was also important that I set some limits.

I couldn’t very well spend the entire day scrolling through all I had “missed.” Instead, I made a point to spend only one hour looking through the apps and replying to messages. Adhering to a schedule was pretty hard for me at first, especially whenever I had an idle moment, but gradually I came to build different habits that took over my predilection for checking new posts on social media.

Which brings me to the next step. In actuality, social media eats up a huge chunk of your free time. But ask yourself whether this how you want to spend all your time.

Studies have repeatedly shown that taking time to relax can be vital for our mental health and overall productivity. Improving yourself Start pondering what your real goals are in life. I really want to take more steps toward improving my mental well-being.

I have been telling myself that I would take up daily journaling, but I have never managed to incorporate it into my daily routine. I wanted to start listening to affirmations and add meditation routines to my schedule. Combined, all these activities take time – time I would have otherwise spent doomscrolling on Instagram.

If there’s one positive drive I’ve acquired from Instagram, it’s the desire to work on myself. The app is a treasure trove for self-help content, but consuming without taking action takes us nowhere. With extra time on my hands, I was finally able to search for and order the books I found on the app.

Armed with these resources, I started to expand my knowledge on topics that matter to me. Spending more time with loved ones With extra time to fill, I was more willing to interact with others. I found that scrolling on social media is another way to fulfill the need for companionship.

Instead of laughing to myself while watching Reels on Instagram, now I took the initiative to see or chat with friends. I have to admit that since I prefer texting over other forms of communication (I’m an introvert), this part was hard for me – at first. Reaching out in person or asking someone to hang out on a phone call didn’t always feel as comfortable as reaching out on social media.

But it made me push myself to be more social with the people that matter. Finding new hobbies Another useful distraction is finding a new hobby – aside from doomscrolling and binge-watching Netflix, of course. I already had a few things on the list, but again, due to the lack of time, I never managed to get started with any of them.

The most important hobby was doodling. I always had a passion for drawing while growing up and used to spend much time engaged in the activity – sometimes making up entire worlds in my head. But somehow, drawing just faded into the background.

I wanted to recapture that magic I felt in childhood while drawing, so with the extra time on my hands, I refocused my energies on spending time each day doodling. On top of that, I hope this hobby will soon allow me to expand my social circle, as I will be taking a watercolor drawing class. Tip : take a look at these apps that can help you learn to cook .

Don’t kid yourself – the urge to reach for your phone and quickly check Instagram or Snapchat will persist for a while. If it hits often, and you find yourself slipping, implement some extra safety options. Try hiding the apps from view: out of sight, out of mind.

Learn how to do so on Android . You can also block certain applications with apps, such as Freedom ( Android , iOS ). The tool allows you to create schedules to minimize all distractions.

It can even play soothing sounds to help you focus on other tasks and take your mind off social media. I use it for a nice background when I’m reading. After not using social media all day, every day, I started to notice the difference, as the urge to check the apps subsided.

So did the anxiety of always having to be connected and available. Perhaps the most unexpected effect is forgetting about them altogether. A friend had to remind me via text message that she sent me an interesting Reel.

Not being constantly distracted by social media also helped me improve my productivity. The digital overload was visibly suppressing my creativity and motivation. Taking time away from social apps helped inspire new ideas and improve my drive to tackle projects from fresh perspectives.

Once I became more comfortable without the routine of constantly browsing social media, I decided to take the next step: I deactivated my Facebook account. By doing so, my profile was no longer visible, and my name, photos, and many things I’d shared were removed. Deactivating Facebook leaves the Messenger app intact so that you can still check for any messages from friends.

But you won’t have access to your Facebook feed. You can, of course, easily reinstate your account by logging back in. Similar options are available for Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media apps.

FYI : if you’re a Snapchat user, make sure you enable these privacy settings . Since I am a tech journalist, I will never completely step away from social media. Even so, the one-month break I’ve taken from Facebook has shown me that I am not actually missing out on anything.

The only thing truly keeping me tethered to Facebook was having access to information about local events. However, during my hiatus, I discovered that my friends would keep me informed of social developments anyway, so I really didn’t need to rely on Facebook. The same is probably true for all the other social apps.

The gist is this: once you’ve distanced yourself enough from social media, the idea of giving it up entirely no longer feels like such a major sacrifice. Deleting your accounts becomes a smoother, more natural step, as your sense of well-being shifts away from constant online updates. Just take small steps toward archiving this goal – you don’t have to jump into deleting all social media apps in one day.

If you wish to continue on this digital detox path, read on to learn how to control your screen time on Android . Keep in mind, however, that not all apps are bad, and using some could actually be beneficial. For instance, take a look at this list of the best mental health apps on Android .

Image credit: Unsplash . All screenshots by Alexandra Arici. Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company.

She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone..