My Catholic primary school years made me an avid Lent-partaker, so come March 2025, I decided I would try staying off Instagram until 2pm every day. I didn’t think I’d actually stick with it, and yet here I am, 204 days and nights later, having never (except accidentally) been on Instagram before 2 pm. Here are three things I learned…
1) I am happier off the app. I put my hands up and say, whilst I do truly dislike Instagram, I don’t think I can sustainably delete it forever, at least right now. But waiting until 2pm does give me these spacious, lower-anxiety mornings. And now, on particularly important days, or even just days where I know something unpleasant is already set to happen, I simply stay off Instagram or delete it for the day.
2) I don’t miss much. I used to be so afraid of missing something on my feed and being cast to the sidelines of my social world for my lack of knowledge on what (in my mind) felt so very important. This did not happen. It was truly never my business what my Year Eleven crush was doing on a Friday night.
3) I am someone who can stick to things. Once I decided to stick to this small goal, I honestly felt so ashamed at the thought of breaking my streak that I could not stop. And I still can’t stop. It’s evidence to myself that I don’t have to act on every whim. Who knew I could be a slightly grounded person!
Anyway, 10/10 would recommend. No real drawbacks (except on hungover mornings, I have to use YouTube Shorts instead of Instagram Reels, and they are just bad). Give it a try!
Photo by Berke Citak on Unsplash.