Yes, you should delete your Instagram.
Like don’t you want a “normal" life?
Okay so I’m settling this question once and for all, yes or no, should you delete your Instagram?
The answer is yes if you actually want to live a normal life. No, if you believe living off Instagram isn’t normal. Yes, if you consider social media a drug, making Instagram equal to methamphetamine. No, if you believe Instagram is actually equivalent to caffeine and completely socially acceptable as a consumable drug. Unfortunately, that leaves us back at square one but I’ll tell you what I chose.
Yes. Well at least for one month.
Is Instagram bad?
I think you can have a GaryVee approach to Instagram or a normal person approach to Instagram. Meaning either Instagram works for you or it uses you for it. The fact of it is that most people don’t know what their approach to Instagram is and when that isn’t clear all sorts of bad things can happen. Unhealthy attachment, obsession, validation seeking, identity seeking, and a slew of others.
When I was twenty Instagram was simply a place to store my photos. But I haven’t used it in that sense for over a decade. And most people don’t either despite what they tell themselves. I think some hard self honesty needs to happen.
If we can admit what Instagram provides us and what we are actually using it for then the monster of Instagram pretty much becomes a fluffy bunny.
Hard truth: I was using Instagram for three things. (Two of which I denied.) My business. Validation. And comfort.
Benefits of deleting Instagram
So I decided to embark on a one month journey of no Instagram. And let me tell you I felt the benefits immediately. But also in phases and phasers. At first initially like the joy felt when you want to say no to someone and you actually do it. Euphoria immediately followed when I clicked uninstall Instagram. Hours later the joy came in like phasers. Kind of like being struck by a happy lightning bolt in the middle of the day. My insides screamed “I’m free, I’m free.”
Validation
In practical terms. I didn’t feel the need to validate pictures, projects, my health, or my life. It was simply my opinion. The only person who needed to approve of my food, my fitness, my life was me. As it should be.
Time
Before, I couldn’t quantify the amount of time Instagram was taking from my life because all that is calculated is the time spent on it. Not the time thinking about it or preparing for it.
You know what I mean. Did my followers hit like? Should I post this next? Who’s on Instagram right now? Have I posted enough today? This pic will be perfect for Tuesday. Etcetera Etcetera.
Quitting Instagram, to my surprise, freed up so much more time than I spent on it, but even more importantly quitting Instagram freed up so much more mental space.
How I removed Instagram
I decided to quit Instagram for one month. One day after work I just came flat out and said it, I was fed up with needing Instagram. So I set an alarm on my cell phone’s calendar and boom. Done. There was no turning back for me.
By day two I wanted to turn back.
By day three I had the deepest withdrawals of my life.
But I stuck to it. Why? Because I knew how ridiculous it was that I couldn’t not post for a few days or weeks. I asked myself, was I really so hooked on Instagram that I couldn’t bear to be off it for a while? Questions like those pretty much kept me in check the first few days and gradually the urge to think “I should post this" after completing something menial went away. Currently I’m at the half way point of this detox.
Cigarettes and Instagram
I compare quitting Instagram to quitting cigarettes. Knock on wood I make two years this year. I knew that if I even peeked on Instagram or agreed to only go on for five minutes that I would crack and throw in the towel. Yes, apparently that’s how afraid I was of my self control slipping. So like cigarettes I just quit it cold turkey.
Unlike cigarettes, however, I made it very clear that I would only agree to one month. Which may speak to another underlying issue. 😆 But in all seriousness it was the addict I was two weeks ago that needed to hear me agree to one month. The person I am today could quit it forever. But I’ll write more about that in another post. 😉
How to cope without Instagram
What I noticed when I wasn’t posting on Instagram was a natural shift to post elsewhere. Luckily for me when I had set up all my social medias I made it clear to myself what I would use each profile for. But don’t get me wrong the urge to increase my time on other social media apps was still there. Like a druggy needing their fix.
However since my experiment was only with Instagram I didn’t make myself feel guilty if I happened to send an extra tweet or two a day.
Coping with the loss of Instagram was hard the first few days because the habit of posting had become reflexive. I not only posted for my own page but for my business page and for other extracurricular pages. However, the pleasure I got from investing that time into higher priorities kept me on track and ten days later the Instagram detox brought me far more joy than playing the Instagram game.
Should you quit Instagram?
If you’re wondering if you should quit your Instagram but worry that it will affect everything you worked for on Instagram then you’re either more hooked than I am or your life actually revolves around Instagram. I’m not judging here because there’s actually nothing wrong with the latter. All I’m saying is to be completely honest about your approach. Admit to what Instagram is actually giving you and adjust your mental health routines accordingly.
After my month is complete I plan to return to Instagram. But it won’t be the same. My approach will change.
Yes, I do plan on sharing what that will be but for now I’m going to enjoy the rest of my time away from Instagram.
Until next time my friends 👋.
