Over the last year, I’ve had many reasons to quit Instagram, from worsening mental health and wasted productivity to a shopping addiction.
But one particular moment made me pull the brakes.
In March, I was on vacation in India, staring at the Himalayas. The peak glistened with a shade of rose gold — a mix of sunlight and snow. In this moment of serenity, I decided to sign up for trouble.
I picked up my phone to capture this view and post it on Instagram. Thirty minutes later, I was green with envy, obsessing over photos from a random person’s island vacation on my feed.
I remember thinking, “How pathetic,” about myself. This reflection shook me so much that I went on my phone and deleted the Instagram app. Having done this before, I knew I might redownload it after I snapped out of my self-hating spell.
But it’s been over 150 days since I’ve used Instagram.
The benefits of deleting Instagram kept multiplying
The initial withdrawal days were difficult. Still, on vacation, I wanted to post stories for gratification, but I kept my restraint. As I was flying back from India to my city, Toronto, I felt hopeful that the lack of distraction would help me stay more focused at work. Boy, was I right.
With no reel scrolling on my phone during work breaks, I easily saved 15 to 20 minutes per break. Once I added that up, it was almost two hours of productivity every day. As someone trying to focus more and grow her public relations business, this was a boon.
Then came the best part — no FOMO because I had no idea what others were doing. Comparisons on social media are linked to increased negative self-talk and feeling worse about yourself. With a total cut-off from Instagram, my mental health improved because I wasn’t thinking about how someone else was superficially better off than me. Since quitting the app, I felt more secure in myself and, in turn, happier and less anxious.
I asked my friends to text me more
It soon became evident that I had no access to memes, sending fluttering hearts on friends’ stories, or finding out about the new bougie restaurant in town. This felt like a hard trade-off because I like having meme-only conversations with certain friends, and who doesn’t love a good laugh or tutorial? But that was the price I had to pay.
I also didn’t want to miss out on my close friends and family’s important moments. I requested they share pictures from their trips and life events by text, and I said I’d do the same. Everyone agreed. This exercise helped me realize I needed new ways to stay connected with people I care about, so I started texting and calling them more. It took more time than DMing but we were having deeper conversations.
I play games now
Without Instagram, my phone lost a little bit of purpose, especially with all my work and text apps on my laptop. I didn’t know what to do during my downtime. So, I doubled down on games. I’ve always been a crossword solver and added more games to my phone like Connections, Wordle, and LinkedIn games. Overall, they take less than 30 minutes to finish, but it’s enough of a dopamine hit when I’m looking to do something on my phone.
I’ve had urges to redownload Instagram, mostly during vacations when I’m surrounded by beautiful views, gorging on Instagrammable food, and taking pictures with my loved ones. But I stop myself because the pros far outweigh these fleeting seconds of validation and maybe even showing off. I still document things and save them on my phone.
In the initial days, I suspected people not in touch with me would think I had zero life. But I’ve made peace with it and feel relaxed that I have nothing to prove to anyone. Being off Instagram has helped me feel more secure, gain time for work, and build deeper connections with friends. Maybe I will go back one day, but for now, these benefits are worth more than an app to me.
