Taking a break from the attention economy.

2026 Day 168. #PersonalDays.

In late 2023, I found myself really overwhelmed by social media. I was living in a city that just had had an anti-immigration riot a few hundred metres from my house. Everyone was talking about the importance of the immigrants and the rashness with which people were reacting. Overall, it was hopelessly annoying to be on social media so I closed my accounts temporarily.

I had a decent social life in the city and I tried to make deeper connections with the people I met, I started reading again, and walking around in the safer parts more often. It was rather fulfilling, I was off social media for the first time in possibly years and it felt great.

Then my life and address changed in late 2024. I moved back home and found myself in the city I belonged to but never had friends. I came back on social media quick enough to have someone to talk to. I had some online friends that I kept in touch with and that became the majority of the socialising that I did.

By mid 2025, I had tried a few different things in life and was exploring new places, people, and ideas but somehow felt unsatisfied. Over the next few months I quit on all of the friends I used to talk on the regular. This was not because I loved them any less, it was simply troubling.

I felt bothered for reasons I do not care to share, but towards the end, I had no friends that I even wanted to communicate with. It almost felt like I was an online shut in.

At the same time I began reconnecting with a lot of people who I had lost touch with. I would be more than willing to go and hang out with them but it was really hard for me to pick up the phone and call. My social needs have evolved where I do not like communicating with people online unless it’s urgent or we are making plans to meet.

Around this time I picked up a few hobbies.

I started running, reading, and eventually got around to writing these blogs. It has been a wonderful journey since then. I have learned things about myself and others that I would never have. I would like to thank life for giving me the privilege to be able to read and learn without worrying about the rest of my career.

My social media has winded down but my screentime is still a little high. This is mostly because of Chess.com and Clash of Clans but I do spend an uncomfortable amount of time on social media just doom scrolling.

I have been trying to quit this habit for a while but it has stuck around. I feel the need to be on social media to have some sense of a social network. I have caught up a lot of people because I have been so active recently.

Self-control is kind of hard. I have tried limiting the screen-time for instagram but it gets annoying quickly. On days that I find myself outside my house with not much to do, I fall back to my older ways. Addiction is so weird. I want to spend less time on it, I know it will be better for me if I am able to quit it, but at the same time it is sort of my fallback when I have nothing else to do.

Social media is extremely accessible, new content is always being pumped out so it is never old and I am a slave to new things.

Still I am finding it hard to limit my activity without completely quitting the platforms. The issue seems to be that it is easier to quit something entirely over limiting yourself. First, it is indeed hard to manage time when you do not have any limits. Managing it via apps is somewhat effective, but because they are so easy to bypass you find yourself on these apps anyway.

Another thing that I have to come to terms with is that there will be days when I do exceed the times I have set but that does not mean I have failed miserably. It is simply an exceptional day where I chose not being bored over anything else.

Something that I do have to consciously work on however is when I get back home tired from a social or just an outdoor commitment. I want to rest but I cannot, I simply get on my phone. I am too tired to want to do anything else and I want to go to bed or take a nap, but instead I find myself on my phone until I find another task to distract me.

I am also looking for alternate habits that I can replace social media with but it seems nothing comes close in capturing my attention. Even though, I read, write, run, code, etc. these activities require a little bit of focus and attention.

In terms of Thinking, Fast and Slow, these activities require my Sytem 2 be active which needs a little time to get into a “flow” state. System 1 however is lazy and always ready to consume content because very little energy is spend scrolling through short form videos.

I am more dedicated than before this time, and I have a better understanding of myself, my behaviours, and I am trying out different tools. If this does not work out, I will take a complete break from social media.

S