The itch is real!

So yesterday, Day 4, seemed to be the hardest day of withdrawal from social media on my phone.

I remember this from last year. I would pick up my phone and just stare at it, wanting it to do something — to entertain me, to distract me.

It is when I get to feel this and notice my habits that I realise I am, hook, line and sinker, addicted to my smartphone.

My way of dealing with that moment is to look at my photos, and then I feel this pang… I haven't shared it with the www. No one is going to say, “Wow! Look at that rainbow over the sea!” Like, like, like.

The desire for external validation is real!

But, a good but, I have noticed how much better my sleep is. This was instant for me last year. I think when you're in the bad habits, you really don't register the cost of the scrolling before bedtime, or the constant stimulation throughout the day.

It costs us a lot, and it is only by removing the apps from my phone that I get to feel what is being lost.

Without the bombardment of reels, influencers, politics and news, you start to realise how much space all of that takes up within your being. It takes energy from you.

I don't know about you, but I need all the energy I can get these days.

Time spent scrolling is not neutral. It deeply impacts your psyche.

Research has backed this up. I was reading Jonathan Haidt's After Babel post, which deconstructs the arguments that dismiss social media as a cause of the drastic increase in mental ill health among young people.

One of the ways researchers can establish its impact is through controlled experiments. One group continues using social media while another stops, while the rest of their lives remain broadly the same.

Across studies of this kind, reducing or stopping social media has been associated with improvements in measures of depression and anxiety. Most of these studies last a week or longer, with longer interventions — including a month — showing some of the strongest effects.

So keep going!

Like breaking any addiction, the first few days can be the most intense. Then, slowly, new pathways start to emerge as you begin doing different things with your hands and your time.

I remember this with smoking. The first few days were horrendous. Then the itch lessened just a little. And then, one day, it wasn't there anymore.

With smoking, I had to know why I wanted to stop. I remember reading The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, where Allen Carr outlines the costs of smoking. One story that really stood out to me was about his daughter's wedding. He couldn't wait for the service to be over so he could have a cigarette. That was his “enough” moment.

For me, with technology, I honestly bloody hate what Big Tech has done to our lives. That makes it increasingly difficult for me to accept using their platforms in the way I have in the past.

But I also recognise how hard this is.

So much of our business depends on social media. So many layers of our lives now run through these platforms. And there are things I genuinely love about them. I love seeing my friends' posts. I love seeing what they're up to.

Except… with social media as it is today, I hardly see my friends anymore.

I see influencers.

And that, for me, is the shift.

I'm not trying to reject technology completely. I'm trying to make it possible to break up with the addiction and choose a much more conscious relationship with technology.

And perhaps that's what this challenge is really about.

Not giving up technology.

Taking back the choice.

Break free and live life on your terms!

p.s do you like my picture : )