Because life after social media is lighter, richer, and just more enjoyable
It’s not easy to put down the phone. For many of us, it has almost become an extension of ourselves. Some people even carry it on a chain around their neck or attach a micro version to their wrists. Most of us can’t leave the house without it—and our heart stops when we think we’ve misplaced it.
It’s not our fault. The phone is shiny, expensive, alluring. And companies are literally spending millions of dollars to keep us hooked. You know which ones: social media companies.
Facebook. Instagram. Snapchat. Dare I say, TikTok. The bad boys patrolling the Internet, luring you in with funny memes and clickbait—and then making off with your time, money, and in many cases, self-esteem.
It wasn’t always like this. When many of us created our first social media accounts, we were doing it to stay in touch with friends and share family photos, i.e., connect with others.
Now, most of that connection is lost. Most days, our algorithm feeds us rage-bait that spikes our blood pressure and makes that pit in our stomach grow tenfold. (You know, that old friend, existential dread.) On top of that, it pushes unrealistic and unattainable standards for beauty, wealth, and everything in between that leave us doubting ourselves, at best, and hating ourselves, at worst.
And of course, advertisements. Everywhere, all the time, popping up and flashing with all sorts of different sounds. Because even though it’s never worked before, maybe buying this one very specific next thing will bring us that unattainable happiness we’ve long strived for.
Sound familiar?
As depressing and hopeless as it can feel sometimes to live an increasingly digital world, we do have a choice: We can disconnect. We can stop using social media.
I don’t mean forever. I still use Facebook Messenger to talk to my friends. I share my writing on Instagram and Pinterest. I like logging into Facebook every few months and seeing my old co-workers share updates about traveling or getting married or having kids.
But we can choose to use social media in a way that serves us, instead of letting it abuse us. I’ll show you how—or at least what’s worked for me.
The shortlist: How to stop using social media
5 strategies to stop using social media (without deleting your accounts)
Productive apps instead of social media to help you replace the urge to scroll
Substitutes for social media, whether you use social media to connect with others, relax, be entertained, or follow the news
Understanding why it’s so hard to stop using social media (it’s not your fault)
4 steps to quit social media that worked for me
How to quit social media (without deleting your accounts): 5 strategies
Often, people are hesitant to even attempt quitting social media because they don’t want to give it up cold turkey. That’s fair. But you can still get the benefits of quitting social media by just scaling back a little bit.
It may seem difficult at first, but once you get the ball rolling, cutting social media out of your life gets easier and easier. That’s because habits are hard to break. But if you can reorganize your day so you have less soul-sucking options within reach the next time you get the urge to scroll, then you can slowly replace your social media habit with much healthier, more productive, and more enjoyable activities.
Wait, why are habits so hard to break?
Dopamine levels spike when an action gets “rewarded,” e.g., like seeing a funny meme after scrolling through your feed for 20 minutes.
Once an action becomes a habit, simply initiating the action gives us a dopamine hit, even if there’s no reward, i.e., you still get a dopamine hit when you scroll your phone, even if you don’t see anything funny or useful.
These are five strategies I found helpful to get rid of social media’s outsized presence in my life:
1. Put your phone in the other room as often as you can
When something is too tempting, get rid of the temptation altogether.
Of course, this tip isn’t practical all the time, especially when you’re on the go. But when you’re at home it’s totally doable and a really easy way to rid yourself of the lure of the phone.
But just putting your phone in another room isn’t enough. Because we have legs. And when our willpower is weak and we let the bad thoughts win, it’s too easy to allow ourselves a quick moment to “just check in” when we’re passing by.
So set a timer. I like to use intervals of 45 minutes. I put my phone in the other room and set a timer for 45 minutes. When the buzzer sounds, I’m allowed to check my phone and see if any interesting notifications popped up while I was away.
In most cases, however, I’ve usually become engrossed in another activity in those 45 minutes and no longer feel the pull to see what strangers on the Internet are doing.
How to fill the time without social media?
The possibilities are literally limitless, which means it can sometimes be hard to think of them.
I’ve given you a cheatsheet. Read What to Do Instead of Social Media for 34+ ideas.
2. Delete social media apps from your phone—but not your account
This is how I kicked my habit of needlessly scrolling Instagram and Twitter (and even LinkedIn).
I never considered LinkedIn a social media app; I just had it because of work. But once I deleted Instagram and Twitter from my phone, the demon inside me needed something else to scroll, and LinkedIn fit the bill.
I had made one of the classic mistakes of trying (and thus failing) to break bad habits: I never replaced the bad habit with a good one. Sure, I had eliminated Instagram from my life, but I hadn’t developed a substitute to fill on-the-go scrolling time. Unbeknownst to me, LinkedIn was waiting in the wings to fill its place.
The “professional” social media app has since been banned from my phone, along with all other apps even remotely capable of scratching the scrolling itch. Since then, my screen time has shrunk dramatically; I now average only about 1.5 hours on my phone per day.
(Not to brag, but American adults’ average screen time is 5.25 hours a day. Where do you stand?)
3. Set up website blockers on your computer
Without social media apps on my phone, clever little me soon found a solution: the computer.
Though I’d never done it before, Instagram and Twitter became frequent mainstays on my laptop screen. Here, the temptation was even worse. While staring at my screen all day long during work hours, it was far too tempting (and easy) to open a new tab and dive headfirst into the bowels of Instagram and Twitter content—just to give myself a “5-minute scroll break” after completing an hour or so of deep work.
This bad habit plagued me for several months, until I realized that I hadn’t stopped using social media any less. I had simply switched devices.
Thus, up went the website blocker. (I like LeechBlock.) You can configure these website blockers to work on a timer, barring access to a certain site and then letting you through after a certain time frame has passed (e.g., one hour) or time of day has arrived (e.g., 6:00 pm).
For me, this wasn’t enough. (Though for you, it might be.) I wanted to kick my social media habit altogether, so I completely banned Instagram and Twitter from my laptop. I allow myself to check in occasionally, but to do that, I have to type in a master password—and face my shame.
This was really the nail in my social media coffin. When I tried to go to the Instagram page, I was faced with a white screen with the message I wrote to myself: “Live your life.” This gave me an equal mix of inspiration and shame, pushing me to close the tab—and scarcely return.
4. Use a phone brick
Another option to stop using social media without deleting it, but not one I’ve tried myself. Honestly, I feel like this is a bit of a Band-Aid solution. Instead of buying something to curb my social media habit, I’d rather work on retraining my brain to not desire the scroll at all.
That said, I know some people who have tried the phone brick trick, and it’s helped them use social media less. So by all means… Here’s how it works:
Download and configure the Brick app.
Connect your phone to the Brick device.
In the app, choose which apps you want to “brick,” i.e., Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.
When you’re ready to leave the house, start work, or relax for the evening, tap your phone to the Brick device to “brick” it. This means those “bricked” apps will be completely inaccessible until you “un-brick” your phone.
When you’re ready to come back online, tap your phone to the Brick again to “un-brick” it.
Unlike analog methods, the brick doesn’t rely on willpower alone (which, let’s face it, is stronger some days than others). If you’re tried other methods to stop using social media but nothing seems to be helping, a phone brick may be the extra kick in the pants you need to stop the Instagram scroll.
5. Replace the urge to scroll with something else
If you want to figure out how to quit a social media addiction, you can’t simply eliminate social media from your life. You need to find alternatives to fill that space.
There’s a lot you can do. I wrote an entire blog post giving you options on What To Do Instead of Social Media, including ideas to replace social media:
When you wake up
When you eat
During your commute
At night
When you have just a few minutes to fill
When you need to zone out
And many, many other scenarios we modern-day humans find ourselves in.
Of course, there are near infinite ways to fill your free time, but social media fills a particularly niche space of time. Usually, we tend to scroll when we’re waiting for things—when we have just a few minutes here or there—so regular hobbies like exercising or drawing won’t always work.
The trick is finding social media replacements that replace your urge to scroll and that you can do anytime, anywhere.
Productive apps instead of social media
That’s why I like thumbing through these productive apps instead of social media. Sure, they keep you on your phone—but if you really feel the need to stare at your device while waiting in line at the grocery store, these are much better alternatives to TikTok:
Duolingo: Are you going to become fluent in a new language simply by using Duolingo? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a useful tool. I’ve personally learned how to order coffees, ask for directions, and even communicate with some security guards when I got lost and accidentally trespassed in Kraków. Even if it’s not perfect, 10 minutes spent learning some new foreign language vocabulary is always better than 10 minutes of TikTok brain rot.
Wikipedia: Did you know Wikipedia has an app? It makes getting lost in Wikipedia rabbit holes even more fun. And even if you don’t have time for an entire reading spiral, it’s pretty entertaining to open the app and browse the most-read articles that day, daily historical events, and other trivia tidbits. (Again, always better than brain rot.)
Calm: This is probably my most-used app—and the only app I’ve ever paid for. I won’t extol the benefits of meditation here, but I highly encourage you to give it a whirl if you’ve never tried before. For a free option, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs offers the Mindfulness Coach App (free for everyone, even if you’re not a veteran) with different mindfulness exercises you can use to replace some scrolling time.
eBooks: I know reading isn’t exactly the same as scrolling, but it is infinitely better for you. If you’re not already a bookworm, remember this trick: You don’t have to read serious, high-brow books to be a reader. Science fiction, fantasy, romance novels—it all works. As I always say: “Ten minutes spent reading a crappy novel is always better than 10 minutes spent watching TikToks.”
Learn Geography: ICYMI, the theme here is taking scrolling time and making it productive. With this app, you still get a few minutes of playing on your phone—but instead of scrolling past advertisements or getting riled up about the state of politics, you can learn something new about the world. Isn’t that always nice?
Substitutes for social media
It’s hard to break a bad habit if you don’t have anything to replace it with. And I get it—even if you dramatically scale back on your social media use, you still want ways to connect with your friends, unwind after a long day, entertain yourself and stay up to date with what’s going on in the world.
But you don’t need social media to do those things. Try these replacements for social media instead:
If you use social media to connect with others...
Try voice memos or phone calls. I know phone calls seem scary nowadays, but as social isolation and loneliness tighten their grip on societies around the world, we need to make more effort to stay connected with each other. If calling a friend out of the blue still feels weird to you, start with voice memos. Ask if you can schedule a weekly catch-up call. And if you really don’t know where to start, call your grandma. She’ll love it.
Write a letter or an email. Ditto with the long-form correspondence. Yes, text messages are quick and convenient, but a short “How are you?” SMS (no matter how heartfelt) is no replacement for an actually substantive exchange. If it’s too hard to schedule phone time with long-distance friends or family, how about becoming pen pals? Emails are a fun 2000s throwback, but if it feels too office-y for you, why not get into letter writing? Just a few lines will do—and who doesn’t love getting a postcard in the mail?
Share photos in group chats. “But what about my vacation pictures?” I know. The universe will cease to exist if everyone can’t see your beach selfies from Greece. I get it: People want to share their lives with their loved ones, but when did the whole world suddenly become part of the conversation? Instead of blasting to Instagram, how about sharing photos in a group chat? The connection is still there, and Zuckerberg has no place in it.
If you use social media to relax...
Use a meditation app for a quick fix. After a long day or an intense session of socializing, it can feel good to veg out and empty your mind with a little social media scrolling. But does it really make you feel relaxed afterward? Or does it give you FOMO, stress, or anxiety. Next time, try replacing 10 minutes of Instagram with a 10-minute guided meditation. That’s actual stress relief.
Keep a coloring book handy. Coloring isn’t just for the kiddos. A study published in Animal Models and Experimental Medicine looked at coloring as a supplement to conventional drug therapy and physical therapy and found coloring therapy “can not only reduce depression and negative emotions but also have better effects on reducing anxiety and improving positive emotions than conventional therapy.” Can doom-scrolling do that? (It can’t.)
Start listening to audiobooks. At the end of a long, tiring day, I know reading isn’t always a favorite way to unwind. Especially if you spent the whole day looking at the screen, it’s nice to give your eyes a bit of a break. That’s why I’ve been getting audiobooks lately: hands-free reading that nourishes your mind instead of dulling it.
If you use social media for entertainment...
Watch a show or a movie—without multi-tasking. According to mntn research, “83% of American TV watchers use a second device while watching TV.” Seriously? We can’t even just watch TV now? We’re that addicted to scrolling? Next time you want to unwind with a TV show, actually let your mind unwind. Put down the second screen. Stop trying to multi-task. And let your brain find some kind of stillness. The show is entertaining enough.
Play a card game. I’m partial to solitaire—a lot, actually. I find it incredibly relaxing. It keeps your hands busy. It’s methodical. And it uses just enough brain power to keep you engaged so you can quiet your mind and stop yourself from overthinking about everything that happened that day. I also love solitaire for a quick, 5-minute break away from the screen in the middle of the workday.
Read something light. I’m a classic novel fiend as much as the next person, but I’ll be honest: I don’t necessarily want to curl up with Crime & Punishment at the end of a long day when my eyes are already tired. That doesn’t mean no reading has to take place—and there’s no shame in turning to a good beach read. A light book I devoured recently? Cleopatra & Frankenstein by Coco Mellors.
If you use social media for the news...
Subscribe to a few vetted email newsletters. This way, you get what you need without unnecessary advertisements or the algorithm distracting you with flashing promotions or annoying videos. Morning Brew is a great standby for the quick highlights. And I’ve been a long-time lover and subscriber of The Economist since college.
Ditch the scroll and read directly in news apps. I actually prefer this to newsletters. Once you start subscribing to a lot of newsletters, they can clog up your inbox fast—and that just adds a whole new layer of stress to my daily life. I don’t want that. But with a news app, I can pop in when I feel like reading. Any other time of day, the news is out of sight, out of mind.
Buy physical magazines or newspapers. My holy grail—and one of my favorite ways to make life more analog. No videos randomly playing in the background. No screen burning your eyes. No slop pushed in from the algorithm. It’s a much more relaxing way to stay informed, and one of the best ways to support quality media outlets and journalists.
Why is it so hard to stop using social media?
If you’ve tried getting rid of social media before and always failed, don’t be too hard on yourself. There are literally teams of people and hundreds of millions of dollars at work trying to keep you hooked. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
By better understanding your reliance and/or addiction to social media, it’s easier to come up with strategies to beat the bad habit.
These are a few likely reasons you may keep coming back to the monsters:
1. It's designed to be addictive
“Behind every screen on your phone, there are generally like literally a thousand engineers that have worked on this thing to try to make it maximally addicting,” former Mozilla and Jawbone employee Aza Raskin told the BBC back in 2018.
While this article condemning social media companies for “deliberately addicting users to their products” was written eight years ago, I think it’s safe to say things have gotten even worse since then, especially with AI new on the scene.
A 2025 review article published in Cureus explores social media algorithms’ addictive nature and its neurophysiological effect on teenagers’ brains, noting “AI-driven social media algorithms are designed to solely capture our attention for profit…”
Basically, if you feel like you can’t get away from the screen, no matter how hard you try, it’s not your fault. Giving up social media is really difficult on purpose, so if you find yourself slipping back on your goals, go easy on yourself.
And then get back at it and try again.
Do you want to learn more about how the tech overlords keep us addicted to social media?
Knowledge is power. I highly recommend this book from Adam Alter: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.
2. Everyone else is on it
The Digital 2026 Global Overview Report from We Are Social gives us the latest numbers: 5.66 billion people use social media. That’s a sobering number. Out of the 8.2 billion people on the planet, something like 70% of them have social media accounts.
Understandably, getting off social media can feel like stepping away from our social network—and nobody wants to feel left out. But we all had friends before we created our first Facebook accounts. Actually, we had more. In a survey from the Survey Center on American Life, 49% of Americans say they now have three or fewer close friends. That’s up from only 27% in 1990.
You don’t need social media to stay connected with your friends, though it may seem like the default these days. Instead, you can:
Send text messages
Talk on the phone
Become email pen pals
Exchange letters
Record voice memos
All a lot more personal and heartfelt than any “like” or (God forbid) AI-written comment.
3. We don't let ourselves get bored anymore
When there’s an empty moment, anywhere, we can immediately fill it with image and sound because we almost always have access to a phone and thus anything our little hearts desire.
Often, it seems that desire is to scroll through Reels, advertisements, and overly romanticized, highly edited “inside looks” at other people’s lives. This shouldn’t be as normal as it is, and it’s a shame we’ve reached this point because, believe it or not, boredom is where the magic happens.
Boredom is where you let yourself ponder, think the big thoughts, and come up with new ideas.
Liraz Margalit Ph.D. for Psychology Today explains it well: “People who allow themselves to be bored and are not afraid to be with themselves and their thoughts think more creatively than those who do not experience boredom.”
But for many of us, boredom has become foreign territory.
Standing in line at the grocery store. Riding the metro. Waiting for a friend to join you at the coffee shop. All moments where we could observe our surroundings, let the mind wander, and just generally be at ease with our own company. But we never let it happen, because we immediately reach for the phone to fill those moments with the scroll and, in doing so, extinguish any sparks of creativity before they can ignite.
Not at ease doing things alone?
Sign up for the comfortable, nonjudgmental email challenge that helps you own the power of being alone.
How I stopped using social media
I was never that into social media to begin with, so I was surprised that cutting it out of my life was still pretty challenging. They have succeeded in making the scroll so damn addictive.
This is what finally worked for me:
I deleted the apps from my phone. This was the single most important change I made to stop using social media. When the apps just aren’t there, you’ll pick up your phone and not know what to do with it. And eventually, you’ll stop picking up your phone altogether.
I put website blockers on my computer. With no mobile apps, desktop social media suddenly became a lot more enticing—so I nipped it in the bud. After about two weeks, I stopped even feeling the urge to visit Instagram or Twitter for a quick scroll.
I replaced my urge to scroll with something else. I used to use Duolingo, but then I wanted to go even more analog. When I’m working from home, I’ll do a 5-minute stretch at my desk or play a song on the guitar. When I’m on the go, I’ll read an article or a blog post from an email newsletter.
I ask people for their phone numbers when I meet them instead of exchanging Instagram accounts. I thought it would be awkward, but it isn’t. Now I can communicate with a new friend whenever I want to—and Zuckerberg never has to get involved.
Conclusion: Is it time to quit social media?
Look, you don’t have to completely get rid of social media if you don’t want to. But taking regular breaks from the scroll and reminding yourself to bring your head above the water can make a world of a difference for your self-esteem, attention span, mental health, personal relationships, sleep cycle—I can go on.
In my new life after social media (AKA, no social media on my phone), I feel like I have so much more free time. I also have less of an urge to buy random things I don’t need. I don’t have FOMO. I’m not comparing myself to others as much. Again, I can go on.
The benefits of quitting social media are a little different for everyone, but one common denominator that I think everyone can rejoice in: Less data and money being sent to Big Tech.
Next Steps:
Start with one small change today. You don’t have to go cold turkey on the first day. Actually, it’s easier and more sustainable if you get rid of social media, bit by bit. So pick one thing: delete the apps from your phone; set up website blockers; maybe consider buying the Brick if you think that might work for you.
Find other activities to fill your scroll time. This is crucial. Getting rid of a bad habit won’t stick if you don’t have a good habit to take its place. Find 34+ ideas on What To Do Instead of Social Media when you’re commuting, unwinding after work, eating lunch, and everything in between.
Tell one person what you’re doing. Accountability helps. If you let a friend or partner know you’re trying to quit social media, they can be another helpful reminder when you’re reaching for your phone in the middle of dinner. Better yet, they could join in the challenge. Send them this blog post so you can help each other take a break from social media together.
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How to Quit Social Media: Common FAQs
Is it possible to quit social media?
It sure is. Even though it feels like everyone else is perpetually online, it doesn’t mean you can’t live your life differently. Actually, getting rid of social media is becoming a lot more popular; a new survey from GWI reveals 7 in 10 people have tried to limit their digital consumption in some way.
Maybe you just quit social media for one month out of the year—or one day out of the week. However much you want to scale back, it’s possible.
Can you quit social media cold turkey?
You definitely can quit social media cold turkey, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. For a lot of people, it’s more sustainable to gradually wean themselves off of social media, e.g., deleting apps, then putting up website blockers, then deleting accounts if you feel ready.
If you are going to quit social media cold turkey, make sure you’ve got new activities at the ready to replace your scroll time, like reading or playing games. Find ideas in this organized guide of What To Do Instead of Social Media.
When should you quit social media?
You can’t go a day without looking at social media. It’s the first thing you look at in the morning when you wake up and/or the last thing you see before going to bed at night. You’re clocking several hours a day scrolling on social media.
These are all signs that it’s probably time to quit social media—or at least dramatically scale back your use.
How does it feel to quit social media?
I personally love life after social media. I find I have more time in the day, less FOMO, and less desire to buy new things.
But at first, it does feel a little weird. You’ll probably find yourself picking up your phone out of habit and not knowing what to do with it. Or you’ll have a few minutes of down time and not know how to fill it. That’s why I’ve prepared a list with 34+ ideas of What To Do Instead of Social Media to help you replace the urge to scroll with other activities that bring more joy.
What are the best books on how to quit social media?
This book doesn’t outline specific steps on how to quit social media, but it does open your eyes to the ways in which Big Tech is doing everything in its power to keep our eyes glued to the screen. And with that information, may just come a little more motivation and willpower to kick social media to the curb.
Read Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter.
Is it better to quit social media?
“Better” is subjective, obviously, but the research is telling: Social media makes us depressed, anxious, lonely, and unable to sleep. Sadly, that is just the tip of the iceberg, as the Harvard Summer School outlines.
If we can assume that removing social media from our lives make us less depressed, less anxious, less lonely, and better sleepers, then I think it’s safe to say that life is indeed “better” after social media.
Merry
Merry is the blogger behind A Merry Loner, a full-time freelance writer, and a lifelong bookworm. Since kindergarten, it was her dream to become a novelist. (She likes to think she's headed in the right direction.) Born and raised in Rhode Island, where she earned a triple-major BA in writing, communication, and French from the University of Rhode Island, she moved to Toulouse, France after the pandemic to complete a master's in creative writing at Univeristé Toulouse Jean — Jaurès. She now lives in Paris with husband.
Discover how the merry loner lifestyle makes life more enjoyable:
LONER MINDSET: fresh perspectives on learning to genuinely enjoy your own company
BOOKS: reading lists for people who love being alone with a good story
ANALOG LIVING: inspiration to step back from the screen and live a life offline
SOLO TRAVEL: guides on where to go and how to enjoy it alone
MINDFUL CONSUMPTION: vetted recommendations for a simpler, less wasteful life
LONER Q&As: interviews from global voices on how to live a meaningful, enjoyable life
