I got a new job at a social media company!

Yesterday, I told a friend I was very busy. Then I looked at my screen time on my phone and knew immediately that I am a liar.

I spent 13 hours on Instagram last week.

The first crazy thing, because there’s a list, is that I don’t really remember any of it. If you asked me to guess how many hours I spent on Instagram last week, I might have said, “6.” I would have been off by half.

The second crazy thing is that if a social media company tried to hire me for $0 per hour, I would laugh in their digital face. Imagine if Instagram said to you, “We’d like you to work 2 hours per day next week and we’re not going to pay you anything, in fact, during every shift, we’re going to sell you products with the most intelligent sales process ever designed.”

Would you take that job?

I get to work for free and in addition to giving you my time, I might also give you my money?

Sign me up! I got a new job at a social media company!

Now the pushback to this situation is, “Sure, you’re not getting paid by Instagram, but you like doing it. You don’t get paid when you run or put together a LEGO set. It’s just a hobby.”

There’s some truth to that I suppose, but there’s one glaring problem – hobbies give me joy.

When I’ve spent 90 minutes scrolling mindlessly on Instagram, especially when I promised myself I’d only look for a few minutes, I don’t walk away feeling refreshed. Have you ever binged social media? Did you feel better after? Did you feel renewed? Were you bouncing with endorphins and filled with hope for the future?

That’s how I feel after a good run. That hobby fuels the rest of my day. After writing, I feel more at ease, having removed all the words galloping in my head and calmed them down on a blank piece of paper. Even a simple LEGO set gives me a burst of purpose because I can see the progress I’ve made. My two hands did that, hooray!

But not social media. It doesn’t make me feel that way. It’s rife with comparison, insecurity and the shallowest of all dopamine hits. I don’t know anyone who would say social media is as good for you as running, gardening, knitting or any other hobby.

In summary:

1. I’m not getting paid.
2. I don’t particularly enjoy it.
3. It’s a mall that’s desperately trying to take all my money.
4. It’s ground zero for comparison and insecurity.

Those four attributes of social media are bad enough and we haven’t even asked the biggest question:

Can you imagine what I could do with 13 hours a week?

Depending on the book, it takes me about 500-700 hours to finish a manuscript. If you do the math, 13 hours per week times 52 weeks, you get 676 hours!

What does Instagram cost me every year? A book!

I could write an additional book every year if I wasn’t screwing around on Instagram.

That’s an expensive habit.

I wonder what it’s costing you. If you get paid $25 per hour and spend 12 hours a week on social media, you just spent $300. Have you ever purchased an app that costs $300? I haven’t. I balk if they want $1.99, never mind $300 per week!

What’s the solution? Is this the part of the email where I pitch you on the many understated benefits of the Amish lifestyle? Oh, what, you’re too good for a buggy?

How do we live in a social media-driven world in a reasonable way? The answer can’t be “live in a cave,” the answer can’t be, “throw your phone away,” the answer can’t be, “use the yellow pages.”

I agree and I have a better idea. It’s just 12 words. Here it is:

“Do less of what you like and more of what you love.”

That’s the key to every single distraction in your life. Here’s why it works.

It doesn’t say, “Never do Instagram.” You could try the cold turkey approach. That might be necessary if it’s that unhealthy for you, but I can’t do that. For one thing, it’s part of my business. I want you to follow me on Instagram and I do my best to create FIRE content.

For another thing, Instagram is actually a great connection point with my kids. One of our favorite things to do is DM ridiculous reels to each other. My oldest daughter LE tends to send me bird videos and my youngest daughter sends me ski memes. LE is also spending the semester in London and if I’m not on Instagram, I will miss all her stories and photos.

It’s a connection point that I don’t want to close off.

So, the solution for me isn’t, “Don’t use Instagram.”

The solution is, “use it less,” but that’s only half of it.

The second half is, “do more of what you love.”

I like Netflix, but I LOVE holding a book I wrote in my hands. I like Instagram, but I love the endorphins and stress relief I get from a run around the neighborhood. I like TV shows but I love going on a hike and reconnecting with my wife at the end of the day.

Instagram is a like for me, not a love. That’s perfect. That’s where it belongs.

We’re not breaking up, we’re just going to see each other less. I like it, but I don’t love it and the loves in my life need to get the first shot at my time and attention.

I’m not going Amish, I promise. I’m just thinking a lot more about what I like, versus what I love.

Don’t let short-term likes hold you back from long-term loves.

If you need a little help figuring out what you really love, read chapter two of this book . The exercise in those pages will instantly show you what you care about the most.

(I wrote this for my free newsletter, the “Try This!” Sign up today to get ideas just like this, twice a month. www.Acuff.me/newsletter )