I Deleted My Social Media Apps. Here's How it's Going.

Two weeks ago, I deleted social media apps from my phone. As a result, my weekly screen time is down 40%.

I haven’t (and probably won’t) study my screen time data in any real detail; I highly doubt that all of the hours I’ve saved since removing the apps would've been directly attributed to social media usage if I still had access.

However, I’ve proven at the very least that picking up my phone to scroll social (most often Instagram) was the gateway to many other activities. Without the apps, my relationship with my phone has significantly changed.

People Watching in Times Square

Roughly 9 months ago, I started a different stretch without social apps. That one lasted 6 months. When I returned to social 3 months ago, it felt as if someone had dropped me in the middle of Times Square.

Once again I was seeing what my friends had for lunch, vacation recap montages, and the latest reels trends.

With a tap of my thumb to hit next, I was getting a window into the lives of friends and acquaintances alike. I could passively get an update from dozens of people in a matter of minutes.

After 6 months off of social, when my circle had gotten fairly small, the pace of the interactions was a bit overwhelming yet intoxicating.

How do you want to be programmed?

This is nerdy of me, but a chunk of that time I’m no longer giving social media is going to computer programming. More time with code has the developer parts of my brain firing again.

Stick with me here: when we create a new habit, we’re programming ourselves. When we execute that habit—good or bad—we’re running that system or program, reinforcing it.???

The logic follows: when we use social media and time flies by, it's because we're stuck in a program that's running extremely well. I don’t mean that in a pejorative way.?

Reflecting on my social media usage, I realized that I’m not interested in curating my life for social right now (unless it’s somewhat business-related on LinkedIn) or the externalities that come with the curation.

I want to be programmed in a different way. How do you want to be programmed?

Paying the Cost to be the Boss

If I somehow challenged my mom’s authority growing up, often she’d half jokingly respond, “I pay the cost to be the boss.” I knew she was right. I figured it was just an old saying and had no idea it was the premise for songs by B.B. King and James Brown.

Today, shedding social media feels like one of those costs associated with being “the boss.”

I’m all in on building my startup, Bold Xchange. It’s difficult—as it should be. In taking full responsibility for my role, in being accountable to the rest of the team, social media happens to be one of those things I can live without for stretches to center myself personally and professionally.

Sure, as a young person in the 21st century, not having social media apps adds some level of strain to my social life. Even most of my close friends respond faster to a DM than a text!

But I’ll chalk it up as a cost of running a business. I’m willing to pay that price in exchange for the Bold Xchange ride. ??