Are you ready to quit social media for good?
It’s happening.
Increasing numbers of people are ditching social media.
Fed up with the algorithms, the comparison, the anxiety, the hours of life lost to mindless scrolling, people across the globe and across generations are deleting their apps once and for all.
As Emma Gannon says in her brilliant book ‘Disconnected’, it’s as if many of us are waking up after ten years of scrolling and wondering how we got here and what the hell we’re doing.
Many people claim to have always had a love-hate relationship with social media, but there was always an air of ‘oh well, it’s a necessary evil’ as if without social media we’d be completely disconnected from the world, the people we love and access to the people we want to hear from and learn from.
But it’s NOT a necessary evil. It’s not necessary at all.
None of us NEED to be on social media. If it works for you and you want to be on there, then fantastic, but if it doesn’t work for you, then join the masses that are jumping ship.
There is another way.
There is always another way.
And this week I have been discovering the bliss of living that other way.
I have spent zero ours on social media (which for me is now instagram) and it feels utterly, deliciously liberating!
I did know, but I don’t think I fully knew, how uncomfortable, draining and unhappy social media made me feel. And how compelled I felt to use it when I really didn’t want to.
Giving myself permission to not have it in my life has had a bigger impact on me than even I imagined.
I am happier, more at peace and suddenly have all this delicious TIME to read books, newsletters and search for blog posts on the topics I’m most interested in exploring at the moment. And knowing that whatever screen I’m looking at to access that content won’t also be bombarding me with videos, memes and sales pitches from people that I have NOT asked to see or hear from is perhaps the greatest relief of all.
But there is one big dilemma I’ve been left with:
How do I stay in touch with the people I want to receive guidance and inspiration from? Where do I go to to get new information fed to me in an easy and accessible way? How do I discover new people out there sharing wisdom and knowledge?
The problem is I have heavily relied for too long on instagram to inform me, inspire me and keep me connected to the people I love to receive guidance and inspiration from.
So this week I’ve spent time creating a whole new set up for myself so that I’m still getting all the inspiration, knowledge, wisdom, connection and guidance that I was on instagram for, but now in a much better way.
Here is what I’ve done to transition out of social media and into a much happier world of content curation and consumption:
1. Newsletters - newsletters and blogs are having a massive comeback - so to get access to the people I love instantly, I’ve set up a folder in my inbox called ‘Newsletters I love’ and all of my newsletters, including substack and Patreon posts, automatically get popped in there . So when I want to read something fresh and inspiring I open up that folder.
2. Books - low and behold this week I have had plenty of time to get back into books. I now have a non-fiction and fiction book next to my bed and those are what I dive into now instead of my phone and it is bliss. I’ve even started reading my book during my lunch break or as a quick palate cleanser when I switch between work projects during the day.
3. Magazines - I haven’t subscribed to magazines for years and when I decided my days on social media were done, I subscribed to three magazines. And it feels wonderful to be back to turning pages in peace as I learn and get inspired.
So now I’m all set up and it feels great.
Rather than having any FOMO from no longer being on social media, I feel more deeply connected to the people I want to be connected with and free from the people I don’t.
And as for business? Well I’m not taking my biz social media accounts off of instagram just yet. I am going to keep them open for business, because I value the community connections on there, but I can post things and answer people’s comments without once opening the instagram app and being exposed to all the noise and nonsense.
But all the free content I create from now on is going to be here on the Project You blog 🤗 and the Project You newsletter (sign up below!)
And I cannot tell you how joyous it feels to be doing this.
So if social media is doing your head in, then let this be the encouragement you might need, to give yourself permission to wave goodbye to it once and for all.
Because there IS life after social media.
And it’s pretty damn good!
x Selina
