2025 Is The Year You Delete Social Media, Stop The Brain Rot & Start Feeling Amazing. Here’s How & Why:

The science behind brain rot, the affects of social media, simple steps to delete your accounts & create a life you love

Last week, I posted a Note about deleting social media that went viral (or should I say: viral by my standards).

For context, at the time of post, I had around 640~ subscribers. The Note got 5,509 likes, 270 responses, and 236 restacks. (Not too shabby!)

I don’t think there is anything particularly brave or sophisticated about this Note, but it struck a cord with people who are:

1. Burnt out from constantly scrolling social media

2. Craving more mental space for creativity & meaningful connection

3. Searching for more calm & clarity

Here’s the Note:

While I LOVE the engagement with my post, I couldn’t help, but feel sad for everyone who is feeling hurt, drained, and “less than” due to what they see on social media:

Our Strange Addiction To Social Media

If you’re questioning adjusting your relationship with social media - you’re not alone.

I am a (recovering) social media addict and I NEVER thought I could delete social media forever. It turns out - it was the best thing for me.

I made tons of excuses: I need it for work, I need it to stay in touch with friends, I need it to “get ideas” or “get inspired.”

This time last year, my screen time was ASTRONOMICAL. When I saw my weekly screen report hit 10 hours a day, I knew something had to change.

Yet my numbers weren’t too far from average. GenZ & Millenials spend somewhere between 6.5 to 8.5 hours each day on screens.

In 2024, the average person:

• Picks up their phone 218 times each day

• Maintains between 4-7 profiles across different social media platforms (1 for each app, such as: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, etc.)

• Spends 2 hours & 20 minutes per day on social media (this number is closer to 3+ hours for teen girls)

  • Or ~852 hours (35.5 days) on social media per year

• Sees 4,000-10,000 advertisements

These numbers are not “good” or “bad,” they just “are.” They’re not meant to scare, they’re meant to empower you to make the right decision for you.

Many positive interactions come out of social media, which makes it really hard to quit.

For a lot of us, social media is the way we connect with friends, run our businesses, engage with family members, find inspiration for new projects, get ideas for design/decor/travel, receive news, educate ourselves, and share life updates.

For example, I have a few favorite food bloggers who share healthy vegan recipes that I absolutely adore and cook over and over again.

Certainly, these recipes have improved my health (and cooking skills!), and I’m so glad I learned to cook this way. I wouldn’t have found them without social media.

Unfortunately, though, for a lot of us, the negative affects of social media far outweigh the positive ones.

Most of scrolling is mindless consumption. We see other people living (what looks like) beautiful & full lives, traveling, starting businesses, wearing cool clothes, buying big new homes and we can’t help but feel overwhelmed and “not enough.”

For this reason, so many people are looking to adjust the ways they connect online.

The Affects of Social Media

It’s no coincidence that the Oxford English Dictionary 2024 Word of The Year is “Brainrot.” Social media and constant consumption of low quality content has become so pervasive in our lives that we can actually feel our brains deteriorating.

One study found that social media addicts and cocaine addicts lose grey matter in the brain at alarmingly similar rates. Grey matter is the part of the brain that is responsible for emotional regulation, problem solving, and attention. It’s not surprising, then, that excessive social media use leaves us feeling upset and lost.

Even if you’re not addicted to social media, the impacts of social media are far and wide. At scale:

• We are consuming 5X as much information per day in 2022 as we did in 1986.

• Our attention span is down 33% since the year 2000

• We’ve seen a 70% increase in anxiety & depression in young people since the inception of social media.

For me, it always came back to Comparison. It seemed like other people had it all and I was just watching the life pass me by on a screen.

The bottom line: I never felt better when I closed out of the app, I always felt worse.

I wanted to explore what it would feel like to stop consuming and start creating.

I wanted to explore what it would feel like to select what I consume (read, watch, listen to) the way I select what I eat: with great care.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling, I made an effort to only consume content that improved my quality of life instead of detracted from it.

I found that when I curated a media diet this way, my energy increased, my sleep improved, my stress melted away.

Here’s how I did it.

Why Moderating Social Media Doesn’t Work

Before I deleted social media I tried many different approaches to moderating my usage:

I tried:

• Curating My Feed - I unfollowed or muted anyone whose content didn’t make me feel great. It doesn’t mean their content was “bad,” I was just trying to consume less in general.

• Screentime Tools - I (attempted to) moderate my social media usage through using ‘time limit apps’ that would lock me out of social media after a certain amount of usage each day.

• Better Phone Hygiene - I practiced leaving my phone in a desk drawer when I was sleeping, eating, or working.

• Deleting The Social Media “Applications” Off My Phone, BUT Keeping An Active Profile - I (attempted to) only access my social media accounts through more mindful visits on desktop. I ultimately cheated and started logging in through the safari browser on my phone.

• “Taking Breaks” by Deactivating My Profile For Periods of Time - I took weeks or months away from social media as a “break” from all the noise.

Here’s what I found: none of it worked. I always found a way to log back in. I always saw content that was disheartening mixed in with content that was inspiring. My thoughts about myself & my accomplishments were always negatively affected after scrolling social media.

Another finding: Practicing moderation with social media is HARD.

Scrolling for 5 minutes turns into 10 minutes turns into 1 hour so quickly.

Taking a break from social media for 3 weeks, no, 2 weeks, actually 10 days, 1 week is a slippery slope.

Having no social media at all is FAR easier than setting arbitrary rules you can re-write at any time.

Here’s How I Deleted Social Media Forever

• Set An Intention: Delete Social as a REWARD, NOT a PUNISHMENT

  • Punishments NEVER last, rightfully so. You don’t deserve to be punished. You deserve to enjoy life to the fullest.

  • Delete social media as a REWARD instead of punishment. REWARD yourself by spending time doing things you love (re: resting, painting water colors, cooking a nice meal, going for a walk outside). If you want your social free streak to last, make time away from screens feel good.

• Delete Social Media Slow & Methodically: Use The ‘One-by-One’ approach

  • Start by deleting the app you are least attached to and work towards the app you are most attached to. I started with Twitter since I wasn’t using it much, then moved to Facebook, then Snapchat, then TikTok, then, lastly, (my holy grail) Instagram.

  • Bouncing from app to app all day for years is overloading your brain with dopamine highs and lows. By deleting the apps one-by-one, you give your brain time to adjust to the new normal.

  • You might feel like you’re not making progress (for example: I used to spend 1 hour a day on Facebook & 1 hour on Instagram. Since I’ve deleted facebook, I just spend the 2 hours on Instagram), but I promise you this works over the long run. By deleting each platform one-by-one, you will realize how little you actually need each platform. You also build discipline when it comes time to delete the app you’re most attached to.

• Subscribe By Email To Your Favorite Creators

  • Remember those vegan recipes I mentioned? Now I get them sent straight to my inbox. I don’t have to traverse through the social media realm of advertisements, suggested content, and the latest noise.

  • If there are creators you love who are providing you real value, connect with them OFF of social media. They find immense value in growing their email list, so it’s a win-win.

  • If your email inbox is already overflowing, try cleaning it up with mass unsubscribe apps like unroll.me

• Look for New Ways to Connect

  • A client of mine said her social media usage was out of control after she moved to a new city… BUT, when she visited her home town (where most of her friends and family lived) she barely used social media at all.

  • We found that she was using social media because she was lonely. But social media could never fill the gap of loneliness in her life, so she kept scrolling and feeling empty. Instead of punishing herself for her screen-time, she looked for ways to connect with her new community in real life. When she found her people, her social media usage went down drastically.

  • We are social beings. We are meant to connect with other humans - not just “heart” their story of a picture of them in Japan - but actually call, text, or meet up to ask how their trip went. Social media likes/comments does not equal real life connection, that’s why it will never replicate the feeling of true friendship.

  • As you delete social media, it is SO IMPORTANT that you find ways to connect in real life. If social media is your only contact with other humans, you will definitely backslide.

• Create More

  • We are born to create more than we consume. That’s why we feel GOOD after we make a piece of art and BAD after we scroll mindlessly for hours.

  • What can you make? It doesn’t have to be beautiful or professional, it just has to make you happy. I love to write, so I started writing more. What do you love to do or make? You can dance, sing, learn to play an instrument, cook, spend more time outside, read, meditate, etc. the possibilities are endless!

  • Do more of what brings you joy. Make your real life better than your internet life and you will never go back.

I can’t tell you HOW amazing I feel after removing social media from my life - it was holding me back in more ways than I realized.

It’s not just the time you get back after logging off forever, its the brain space and clarity you experience when you stop consuming mindless garbage. It’s the focus you feel on your goals, rather than the distraction you felt from watching everyone else.

If you’re ready to delete social media, try these steps and let me know how it goes in the comments.

If you’re on the fence about deleting ALL social media, start by deleting one app today and see how it feels. You may surprise yourself with what you find.

If you’re not ready to delete social media, but want to evaluate what you’re consuming online, you can download my Input Workbook when you become a free subscriber to my substack below.

You’ve Got This.

PS. Is Substack Social Media?

You can view my thoughts on that topic here:

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