If this is your first time reading about my journey,
I recommend you check Part 1 and Part 2 of this story first:
This is the third update — the six-month mark.
And I’ll tell you this:
It wasn’t planned.
It started with a black screen.
It Broke. So I Didn’t Fix It.
I was on a trip when I accidentally sat on my phone.
The screen went completely black. Nothing to see.
I told myself, “I’ll fix it when I’m back home.”
But something made me pause.
I asked myself: Do I really need it?
So I wrote down the only three reasons I used my phone:
Posting content (especially on Instagram)
Consuming content (scrolling, watching)
Utility (SMS codes, rare phone calls)
That’s it.
And with a bit of friction, I realized I could still do all three without using a phone:
Post content from my Mac
Check SMS through a clunky screen-mirroring app
Use WhatsApp Web for the few calls I get
That screen-mirroring app is so slow, it made me not want to use it.
And that became the blessing.
Now my average screen time is under 2 minutes a day (just posting stories), sometimes zero.
What Changed in 6 Months
In the early days, as I shared in Parts 1 and 2, I felt:
More focused
Less distracted
Closer to people I care about
More alive
But after 6 months… I noticed something deeper.
I started asking new questions:
Who am I, when I’m not consuming content?
What do I actually think, want, believe?
That’s when it hit me.
The Quiet Damage of Constant Content
When you scroll all day,
you’re not just consuming — you’re becoming someone else.
You absorb the personalities, opinions, and values of people you don’t even know.
You stop filtering. You just take in whatever Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube feeds you.
And slowly, you lose track of — you.
When I quit social media:
I stopped caring about opinions
I stopped copying other creators
I stopped comparing my life to theirs
And I started thinking — independently again.
I Became a Stranger to Trends
Just yesterday, a friend mentioned a trend “everyone” knew.
I didn’t know it.
I said, “My phone’s been broken for months — I don’t scroll anymore.”
He paused, remembered, and said, “Right.”
And for the first time,
Not knowing what was trending made me feel important.
Because I wasn’t part of the noise.
I was finally living in — my world, not theirs.
A Phone Without Social Media Is Harmless
Let me be clear:
The phone itself isn’t the addiction.
Without social media and Wi-Fi, a phone is just a tool.
But with it — it becomes a weapon.
Not against others… but against your — focus, attention, time.
So What Can You Do?
You don’t need to break your phone like I did.
Here are a few things that can give you the same clarity:
Delete social media apps
Use a dumb phone
Give your phone to someone and ask them not to give it back for a week
Turn it off and make it hard to access
Track your “off phone” days like a habit — on paper, in Notion, whatever works
Set small rewards for consistency — 7 days, then a month, then two…
Make “off phone” a lifestyle — not just an experiment.
And if you’re someone who says:
“But I need my phone for work or content…”
I hear you. I’m a content creator too.
And I’ve survived 6 months without it.
You can too.
Why This Experience Matters
Earlier this week, I sat with a friend.
He scrolled through reels like a machine.
Not watching — just swiping.
No focus. No awareness. No presence.
And I thought:
This is what the algorithm has done to us.
We’re raising a generation that’s never truly bored — and never truly awake.
If you care about your future,
your mind, your ability to focus…
Try this.
Quit the feed. Break the loop.
Come back to yourself.
I’ll continue this journey and report back.
Next goal: one full year.
Let’s see how far we can go.
