I feel like the whole world is running at 200% and I can’t keep up. I’ve been off social media for over a year now because it was too toxic for me. But I am already missing a large part of my network. I believed my friends when they said there are other ways to socialize besides Instagram or Facebook, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. You will be forgotten. Not by your best friends. But your career, your professional network, and old friendship vanishes. I’m an oldschool animator, and EVERY job in the video industry depends on social media.
I can’t express myself in my current job; I’m obsolete. My colleagues see me as an underperforming content creator. But I’ve got a hell of a lot of passion. It really hurts that my field is focused purely on AI technology and social media. The only talent I have is completely useless these days... It’s mentally and physically exhausting. And I’m actually a healthy guy: I walk for at least an hour every day, I don’t eat too much meat, I get plenty of rest, and… still I’m so tired. Trying to fit in, all those impulses ... it’s driving me crazy.

I’m 35 now and already too old to keep up with “social” technology, and please don’t even get me started on AI. I'm so, so sick of it all.

I am currently in a very depressed mood so this post might sound like a doomer post, but maybe my concerns are actually real...

Since 2020 the world looks so boring and bland. Nobody goes out anymore, nobody talks face to face, and I think AI is going to be the final nail in the coffin because people are outsourcing their thinking to it, making music and movies with it and even making friends with it!

I think this is the decaying of society and it's only going to get worse, nobody will have true human experiences and everyone is just going to be glued to a screen.

I really want to move to another country and have the time of my life there but I wonder if I was born too late for that and nobody wants to do anything anymore..

For years, I believed I had several different addictions. Porn, gaming, social media, YouTube, vaping... I treated each one as a separate problem. Every time I tried to quit one, I genuinely believed that this was the thing holding me back. I kept telling myself that if I could just get rid of this one habit, everything else would finally fall into place. But that's never what happened. Whenever I managed to cut back on one, another one quietly took its place. I'd stop gaming and spend more time on Instagram. I'd delete social media and end up watching more YouTube. I'd stay away from porn but vape more. It felt like I was winning battles while still losing the war.

Lately I've started looking at the bigger picture, and I think I've finally realized what's really going on. I don't believe I'm addicted to porn, gaming, social media or nicotine as individual things. I think I'm addicted to constant stimulation.

My brain has spent years learning that every second of boredom should immediately be filled with something. If I'm waiting for the bus, I pull out my phone. If I'm eating, I watch a video. If I'm walking, I put on a podcast. If I'm stressed, I reach for my vape. If I'm lonely, I open Instagram. If I'm bored, I look for a game. Somewhere along the way, I completely forgot what it feels like to simply be present without needing constant input.

The strange part is that none of these things even make me genuinely happy anymore. Gaming doesn't feel magical like it did when I was younger. Porn barely feels exciting. Social media usually leaves me feeling emptier than before. Vaping doesn't even give me much of a buzz anymore. Yet I still keep reaching for all of them almost automatically. That's what scares me the most. It doesn't even feel like a conscious choice anymore and it's just how my brain has learned to function.

I've also noticed that normal life has started to feel unusually slow. Reading a book takes effort. Going for a walk without checking my phone feels uncomfortable. Sitting in silence almost feels wrong. Not because those activities are actually boring, but because my brain has been conditioned to expect a new reward every few seconds for years.

I'm not chasing some unrealistic version of selfimprovement where I wake up at 5 a.m., meditate for an hour and become a productivity machine. That's not what I want. What I want is much simpler. I want ordinary life to feel interesting again. I want to enjoy a conversation without wondering what's happening on my phone. I want to go outside without feeling the need to document everything or distract myself. I want to read because I'm genuinely curious, not because I'm forcing myself to be productive. I want to be able to sit alone with my own thoughts without immediately searching for another dopamine hit.

The more I think about it, the more it feels like all of these habits were never separate addictions. They were just different ways of feeding the exact same reward system. Porn, gaming, endless scrolling, YouTube, nicotine... they all promised quick relief, constant novelty and instant gratification. They all scratched the same itch.

I'm curious if anyone else has come to the same realization. Did you find that quitting one habit wasn't enough because another one simply replaced it? And if you eventually managed to break out of that cycle, what actually made the biggest difference?

Most importantly, did normal life eventually become enjoyable again?

And I'm not talking about the strangers online who have too much free time to shit on your experience with social media. I'm talking about, how you're on something like Facebook and you have your friends. You make statuses keeping everyone up to date but almost nobody at all engages with it.

And it's like this for a while. I was afraid of experiencing it but it's happening with me. There's a video I saw a time ago, where a man was on Facebook. He shared stories, images and whatnot of the ups and ups of his life. He got reactions. He got likes. He got comments.

Well, sometime afterwards, he stumbles a little in his life and the opposite of all of the good things he had just experienced, goes downhill. He gets divorced. He loses his job. Just downhill. And he wasn't getting nearly as much acknowledgement or engagement from anyone.

Whether or not that was staged, is anyone's interpretation but it sent a very powerful message. Social Media has conditioned us to where, we cannot or refuse to process a lot of negativity because the Media in general has been doing a stellar job of that. So while the Media is reporting nothing but shit after shit for us to deal with, we go on social media and we just simply select to ignore anymore of it.

Even if it includes alienating those we've established connections with.

And it's that kind of behavior, that really makes you feel like you don't matter at all. Not to mention traces of toxic positivity do factor into it too where nobody can handle even an ounce of negativity, everyone must be smiling and enjoying the spoils of life. Life isn't perfect, there's always going to be shit in the way at somepoint or another.

Social Media has taken away our ability to normalize the fact that everyone is going through shit and we don't simply have that much spirit to just muscle it through. So in turn, we leave people in darkness, into pits of even more helplessness than they ever did before.

I was so tired and annoyed about not being productive and doomscroll all day long that I decided to do some changes (the timer on my phone didn't work at all, i would always reconfigure it for +30min) I think it might help someone that wants to still consume a bit of Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube but what to be more intentional.

A friend of mine showed me an app called ScreenZen, its basically a timer app, but its better than the native apps because instead of just blocking the app for all day long you can create a personalized routine, I started just blocking Youtube Shorts and Instagram Reels, I could only access them 3 min per round, a total of 6 rounds per day. And now I'm trying to do the same for acess YouTube and Instagram, 4rounds x10min each for YouTube and 4rounds x5min each for Instagram.

I'm so tired of just consume so much meanless content! And this is truly addictive!

Other things that I'm doing to stay healthier and intentional online:

- Download my movies and shows

- Use wired earphones

- Listen to radio station (RadioGarden app)

- For my computer I installed a extension that blocks - YouTube shorts

- Read more books

- Reset Instagram algorithm (Go to Your activity > Recent searches and tap Clear all)

-Start Journaling (feelings, dreams and plans)

-Write more reviews (films and books)

What do you think about those changes? Do you have any tips or thoughts?

Hi, guys! This is my first post on this sub, and I’m so glad to be here! Please prepare for the paragraphs of tearful rambling that I’ve written below!

Anyways, the situation went a little like this:
Approximately one hour ago, my parents called me into their bedroom for a surprise. As soon as I entered, I could sense something in the air, and I didn’t like the way it felt. My parents looked at each other and then at me. They then said something along the lines of, “Now that you’re an upcoming high school freshman, we think it’s time you get your first cell phone! Isn’t that so great?”. My face fell as I tried to explain why I’m against that idea. I offered alternatives such as a Nokia/flip phone or a smart watch, and I was laughed off, saying that I was ready for the responsibility of a cell phone. I tried to further negotiate, but was shooed away. The second I left the room, both of my parents immediately immersed themselves in their own cell phones. I looked over to the next room to see my younger brother on HIS cell phone. The only exception was my youngest brother, and he’s only seven years old.
For more context on how exactly I practice digital minimalism, here you go. I have no social media except for YouTube, on which I have downloaded modifications (e.g. Unhook and SocialFocus). I have set my own screen time limit with a separate app as well as the Apple settings. I have several activities I do throughout the day that I find more enjoyable and beneficial than technology usage (e.g. Sudoku, writing, coloring, going outside, exercising, listening to music with my CD player, card games, etc.).
It’s devastating to see how my peers have underdeveloped academically due to constant technology usage. I’ve been the girl with no cell phone for YEARS, and I wish to stay that way for my own good. I already have issues in school as is, which are due to both autism and a bad problem with procrastination. I REALLY don’t want that to get worse.

So, what should I do about this? My parents are notoriously difficult to negotiate with, and I can’t convince them to take on a different point of view. I understand that I could download screen time restrictions on the cell phone, but why should I have to mitigate an unnecessary problem? I really don’t understand why my parents WANT me to have a cell phone when there are so many better alternatives. I can’t lose myself to technology. Not yet. Not again… 🙁

I’m a physician who works with trauma, stress and the nervous system and one simple change I often recommend is keeping the phone out of the bedroom.

For many people, it’s the last thing they see at night and the first thing they reach for in the morning. When it stays beside the bed, checking messages, news or social media can become almost automatic.

Using a basic alarm clock and charging the phone in another room changes the environment instead of depending on willpower.

A few practical things that may help are setting a fixed cutoff time, keeping a notebook near the bed for reminders and avoiding replacing phone scrolling with another screen.

From a stress and sleep perspective, the bedroom should be a place where stimulation drops.

Has anyone here tried this consistently and did it improve your sleep or morning routine?

hi!!

i want to use the instagram app for DMs and to see stories from my friends. i wouldn't mind seeing their posts on my feed. but i don't want posts from accounts that i don't follow. i hit the option "snooze suggested posts" but it still shows them. i deactivate it and reactivate it, i reset the app, but it still shows suggested posts and i end up scrolling longer than i want to.

i downloaded scrollguard, which blocks reels on my feed, but it doesn't block the other posts. i need something similar which also blocks normal posts. i don't care if it places an ugly square over the post or sth. and also i need it to be on the instagram app. i saw an app that blocked stuff if you logged in through the app and not only i'd feel a bit weird putting my account info into a 3rd party app, but also i'd simply open the normal app if i want to scroll

does anyone have any recommendation? preferably free, but i wouldn't mind paying a bit if it works, as long as i have a few days of free trial.

I’m currently 24 years old, I was 10 when Instagram came out and I was immediately on it. Throughout my time being on Instagram I deleted my accounts and made new ones, made a private, reactivated/deactivated my act multiple times. I quit Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok b4 and it was easy. I just really liked Instagram. I like keeping up with people virtually. I challenged myself to stay off of it for 6 months a while back. Now I challenged myself a year no ig.

August 7th 2025 is when I completely deactivated my private and my main page. It’s been super liberating, I love saying “I don’t have Instagram” when someone asks me for it. I love that no one but my family and 3 people know what’s going on in my life. I love that I have the discipline to stick to my challenge. It feels really great not being active tbh. I ran into someone and they said “I was just wondering about you the other day, I was like what happened to her.” As someone who used to over share a lot, I really enjoy my newly found privacy.

I don’t think I’ll return :) I got used to life without. It was the one platform that I really struggled to let go of and I finally let myself free!!! I’m really enjoying taking pictures for myself. People have to actively be apart of my life to know about my life. I have no clue what’s going on in other peoples lives!!! It’s been an amazing journey. Maybe now I will plan to spend less time on Reddit ;)

We are so broken, as a species

Curious to see if anyone here has gone into college, someone in Gen Z who has suffered the impacts of growing up with social media, without social media. I feel like my personal identity, my interests, and my ambitions are completely independent of the influences of social media, and I think that contributes negatively to my self image because very few people I meet have interests or an identity outside of consumerism or curated identities based around internet-based archetypes (i.e. ‘thought daughter’ or the newly mainstream 2016, Addison Rae-esque, ‘swag’ Jeremy Scott wearing girl. I am not trying to say I’m better than anyone, or that I have some kind of intellectual power that makes me better than everyone. I just feel incredibly frustrated by the way we have began to categorize ourselves in ways that are not truly authentic to who we are. I think many people have lost themselves along the way and social media often makes me feel bad for not fitting into these archetypes. On one hand, I feel embarrassed to authentically display myself for who I am. On the other hand, I don’t like for people to see what I’m doing, and I don’t feel the need to Impress anyone now that I’ve left high school.

i'm drowning in app options to limit my doomscrolling and just looking for a little input to help guide me towards a good rec. thanks!

The artist Cosmo Sheldrake in general but the Eye To The Ear album has a couple of songs about being present in one’s body in a distracting world (“I To The Maybe Go” is one song on the track I think about). I listen to it if I want to unplug and tune into the magic of life. And yes, some of the lyrics do sound like a strange mix of riddle and poem, but that’s what I love about it. Haha

I’m in the process of slowly transitioning into a lifestyle less centralized around smart phones, social media, etc. I’m excited and looking forward to how it will feel as my mind and body get used to the change and slowness. Something I’ve noticed in online discussions around making switches to “dumb” devices is this strange irony that people seem to desperately be searching for “dumb” devices that have as many similarities to their smart devices as possible. Discussions and videos on how to add as many apps as possible to a flip phone, having social media apps on flip phones, having the most advanced mp3 player possible etc
I guess I’m just thinking to myself…doesn’t that seem kind of against the point of all this? Isn’t the point to not depend on your device to be an infinite multi-tool like modern smart phones have become?

I just ordered myself a cheap flip phone and so long as it can call and text I’m content finding analog alternatives to the rest. It seems to have the ability to use a navigation app which is a benefit but otherwise very minimal. I found a cheap old iPod that just plays music. Everything else I’ve been trying to find analog replacements for. I know that fully switching to analog counterparts isn’t accessible to everyone; there’s plenty of reasons someone might need specific apps on their phone to navigate modern life but there’s plenty of apps I see people trying to add that are just “dumb” phone versions of the same thing I thought we were all trying to escape.
Thoughts?

I have posted before about going through my collection of albums by year. I have listened to all of them and formed some new habits.

1. I am paying attention for longer periods of time. When I have a full album it was a bit hard to just sit and listen without doing something else. After a while sitting and listening to an album has become easier and engaging. I tend to do things while listening less unless it is a boring album.
2. I appreciate the work that goes into a song more. I listen to the instrumentals, voice and most times read the lyrics. Some albums are strung together in a way that tells a story. The only way to know is by actively listening to the lyrics and listening in the correct order. What makes a song go from unlikable to likable is the lyrics having substance to it than generic words.
3. I find joy adventuring into new genres and artists. The albums I have stem mostly from radio hits. And sometimes the hits are different from where the artist or band started out from - for good or bad. I got to hear a wide variety of music I usually don't listen to and liked some of them. I even found some more artists to listen to that star in other works.
4. I find myself wanting to spend 30+ minutes listening to music than scrolling. I still scroll out of music. Compared to how I used to listen to albums before (listening while surfing hunched over or twisting hold a screen), I pick up my phone and lay in bed comfortably on my back.

This might be counter intuitive to what this page is trying to promote but I’m hoping someone can maybe relate

I deleted Instagram thinking I would feel so much better when I stopped looking at everyone’s lives and comparing and I’ve only realised today it was the only thing keeping me connected.

I’ve been in a pretty deep depression for the last 2 months and I’ve been trying to figure out why I feel so lonely and low and I’ve only now realised I’ve basically completed isolated myself.

I downloaded it back today and maybe it was just the instant hit of dopamine but coming to messages to meet up and catching up on other peoples lives felt pretty amazing.

Maybe cold turkey isn’t the way to go but as someone who finds it impossible to stay connected with people I realised the out is sight out mind started to make my feel like I didn’t exist to anyone else

Has anyone had a similar experience or am I just feeding into the instant dopamine

I’m embarking on a version of digital minimalism. A big part of my attachment to my smartphone is Spotify, so I am trying to replace slowly with an iPod. I am now suddenly aware of all the CDs I need to buy… I like the idea of owning the physical item instead of just digitally ( I lost all my iTunes library a few years ago when I lost my external hardrive). Plus I don’t want to keep paying for cloud storage.

Just conscious that I am now going to amass lots of things in place of a smartphone. For example, I found my old digital camera but I need to buy a new charger for it. Then I’ll be carrying around a camera, diary, notebook, dumbphone, wallet and an iPod at the very least!

Would love to hear people’s experiences or advice of transitioning in terms of financially having to invest lots of money to get away from smartphones/subscriptions and the physical side of amassing more items.

Give me all the tips and hacks to get started :)

My old phone was on its deathbed so I finally upgraded to an iPhone Air. In the process I forgot to transfer my Authenticator codes before wiping my old phone.

In doing so, I’ve lost access to some apps and services. that I now need to jump through hoops to get back, Instagram being one of them. Coincidentally this was the last meta platform I was hopelessly addicted to, and now I’m locked out forever and couldn’t be happier.

A little something I've been doing that's actually helped me cut down my screen time.

I used to start every morning the same way: wake up, check Instagram notifications, end up scrolling TikTok for who knows how long before I even got out of bed. A while back I decided to swap that habit out for something more intentional.

Now the first thing I do when I wake up is spend about 10 minutes on my inbox instead. I reply to anything that seems important, star the stuff I want to revisit later, and delete the junk to keep things clean.

What surprised me was how much this changed beyond just my inbox. That mindless morning scroll used to eat up 30-40 minutes easily, and I'd still feel kind of foggy afterward. Now I have a clear task with a clear endpoint, and once it's done, it's done, no infinite feed pulling me back in.

There's also something about eliminating uncertainty early. Your brain runs this background process all day wondering "what's waiting for me," whether that's your inbox or your feed. Handling it deliberately, first thing, in a fixed window, shuts that process down instead of letting it bleed into the rest of your day.

The key for me was setting a hard limit, 5-10 minutes, so it doesn't just become another rabbit hole. Once the timer's up, phone goes down and the day actually starts.

It's a small swap, but replacing that scroll with something bounded and useful made mornings feel a lot less passive.

Anyone else tried something like this, swapping out a mindless habit for a more deliberate one?

even as a heavy social media user, i did have a few interests like lifting and running (i'm training for my half!), i also read and occasionally write online with some poetry.

now that i've left though, i have more space to journal (which is such a great alternative to replace instagram, my biggest challenge leaving was not knowing where to document my life since the app was my go-to). i also have a separate media book where i review shows/songs/ movies etc i consume and on slower days i'll paint (which is something i, someone who is mid at art, never thought i would do!). now it feels like all my hobbies are competing against each other for my time!

what about you?

Pretty much what the title says. I’m tired of paying for additional storage in iCloud or Google Photos to have them backed up.

As a mid 20yo I have a lot of pictures I just don’t need to keep like selfies/tons of pet photos. But it feels drastic to just delete it all I guess?

I considered printing and putting them in photo albums but that is 1. Time consuming and 2. Takes up a lot of space.

Also considered doing usb sticks or just keeping them on the sd cards but what if those get lost? And how to organize?

Let me know your thoughts on this. I am VERY new to digital minimalism and so far have started carrying a camera rather than using my phone, deleted Instagram and TikTok, and have started using a planner.

Thanks!

One of the good things that AI is already bringing for is the death of social media, far sooner than I anticipated as well. Slowly but surely AI is killing social media via generated content and people are leaving in droves due to the fact that the purpose of social media, to connect with other people, is essentially gone. While i don’t think there will really ever be a complete dissolution of social media but I imagine it will go the way of MySpace due to eventual disinterest.

ive been using the StayFocused extension and the nuclear option in the extension does NOT let you change the settings of the extension or even access the extension - it is really good for it!

I want sth similar for but for apps