{"id":2141082,"date":"2024-01-05T07:33:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T12:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-bad-habits-i-broke-when-i-quit-instagram\/"},"modified":"2024-01-05T07:38:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T12:38:31","slug":"3-bad-habits-i-broke-when-i-quit-instagram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-bad-habits-i-broke-when-i-quit-instagram\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Habits I Ditched When I Quit Instagram"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F3-bad-habits-i-broke-when-i-quit-instagram%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2141082&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Discovering the Power of Disconnecting \u2064from Instagram<\/h2>\n<p>In the middle \u2062of \u200c2020, I had the\u200b opportunity to \u200dtake a single, distance-learning grad class \u2062from New St. Andrews College that \u200bhad a \u2064reading list crammed\u200d with books \u2063I already owned and had been wanting to read for years \u200cand from a \u200dprofessor I knew would push me. Although I published my own \u2064writing \u200dregularly on my blog, it had been almost two \u2064decades\u2064 since I \u2063had\u2063 objective \u200dfeedback \u2064on\u2064 my work. I wondered if I\u200b could hack it.<\/p>\n<p>I talked the opportunity over with my husband, who said, \u201cThat\u2019s a commitment. You have a lot going on. You\u2019re going\u200b to need to \u2062cut something\u2063 to \u200cmake\u2064 room for that class.\u201d \u200cHe was right. I \u2064was homeschooling four kids while my\u200b oldest attended \u200bthe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-staff-told-us-he-misspoke-joe-biden-confuses-his-agenda-in-60-minutes-interview-so-his-staff-steps-in-to-correct-the-record-video\/\" title=\"\"Biden's Staff Told Us He Misspoke\" - Joe Biden Confuses His Agenda in 60 Minutes Interview so His Staff Steps in to Correct the Record (VIDEO)\">community college<\/a>; I had three podcasts\u2063 and\u2064 two online \u2064businesses; I was the church\u2019s women\u2019s \u2064ministry\u2062 coordinator; and even though in-person events \u200dand hospitality were more limited at the time, we were still doing \u200cwhat hospitality we \u200ccould.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I looked at the syllabus. I \u2064looked at my calendar. I figured I would need \u2062six to eight hours a week \u200bfor the class (a semester class spread over\u200b a full \u200cschool year). On a whim, I\u200c opened up my\u200d phone \u2064screen time\u2062 report. Woah.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Instagram was already disillusioning me. It seemed like people weren\u2019t really\u2062 reading \u200dcaptions, bullying was getting worse and worse, the ads were increasing,\u200b and \u200bhalf of\u2063 them were for underwear on\u200b overweight women. Then\u200c the \u2064report\u200b told me the cold, hard reality \u2014\u2062 which was \u200cquite different from my perception.<\/p>\n<p>I had spent six\u200d hours that week \u2062on Instagram. The \u200bweek\u2063 wasn\u2019t yet over,\u200b and \u200cmy phone said \u2063this \u200bwas a downward trend. I needed\u200d six to eight \u2062hours per\u200d week for my \u200cclass. Here it was: the time I\u2062 needed presented to me \u200don a silver platter, \u2064if only\u2063 I\u200c would take it.<\/p>\n<p>I\u200b showed my husband, who is no fan\u2064 of the Facebook hegemony. \u201cWell,\u201d\u200b he \u2064said, \u201cthat\u2019s a great trade!\u201d \u200cDeleting Instagram was the thing to do, at least for the time being.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>What happened next surprised me. \u2063I was not addicted to my phone. I already\u200c read books almost daily. I used my Instagram\u200d account\u200b mostly for business,\u2063 not for \u2063browsing. That\u2019s what I told myself, anyway. But with the app \u2064deleted from my phone, I\u2019d randomly still \u200bpick\u2064 it up and just stare \u2063at the screen\u2063 of boring app icons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It took \u2062me about three months, I think, to recover from the three\u2064 bad habits I had \u200dbuilt using the\u200d \u201cI\u2062 need Instagram for my business\u201d excuse.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The first bad habit was using my phone to check out of my \u2062real life.\u200d When I just stared at my phone blankly, I couldn\u2019t deceive myself\u200b anymore: \u200dInstagram gave me the illusion of doing something when, in fact, the whole \u2062reason I opened it\u200c was to do nothing and ignore the \u200cwork I was supposed to be doing.<\/li>\n<li>The second bad \u200dhabit\u2064 was consuming tasty morsels, one right after the other, which felt like\u200b learning or\u2062 being encouraged when it\u2063 was actually \u200bdisengaging my brain. I didn\u2019t have to think about what\u200c was being said because \u2063two seconds\u200d later\u2062 I was on to the next thought. I didn\u2019t have \u200bto be alone \u2062with my thoughts at all because at any point I could open \u2063up \u200bthe \u2064world and escape \u2064into photos and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whats-next-great-awakening-or-great-reset\/\" title=\"What\u2019s Next? Great Awakening or Great Reset?\">sound bites<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<blockquote>\n<p>But I was\u200c not \u200dexpecting\u2063 the third bad habit, which was the worst. I didn\u2019t just consume sound bites, I was turning \u200dmy own life into sound bites. I\u2019d be making dinner,\u2062 taking a \u200bwalk with the kids, or even\u2063 reading a book,\u2062 and interrupt \u200bmyself, thinking, \u201cOh! I\u2063 should snap a photo. I\u2062 could caption it with this clever \u200dthought.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>No matter \u2063where I was or what I was doing, I always \u2062had an excuse \u200cto \u2063disengage with the\u200b moment. I had the\u2064 reward of feeling smart and\u200d getting public kudos \u200cfor doing so. I realized that I\u2019d been processing my own life through the\u200c lens of making a \u2064post.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since leaving Instagram, I love \u200chow <em>normal<\/em> I feel in and\u200d about my real life.\u200d If I have something to say,\u2062 I send a message to my \u200dhusband or\u2063 a friend. I take \u2064notes and flesh my thoughts out,\u200d processing and \u200cdeveloping them into something long-form and more lasting, rather than getting\u2063 the quick fix of instant \u2063acclimation for my own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-10-best-jim-acosta-moments\/\" title=\"Top 10 'Best' Jim Acosta Moments\">sound bite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is now my default setting to simply \u2062enjoy whatever I\u2019m doing with my \u200ckids, to actually give \u2063my book my full attention, to think things through rather \u2062than\u200b jump to the zinger that\u2019s fun to post. Before I deleted Instagram, I didn\u2019t realize that \u200dwas not my default. It \u200ctook\u2063 experiencing \u200bthe withdrawal symptoms to see the truth.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u2064there\u2019s one final and even more important\u2062 thing\u200d I learned\u2063 from deleting Instagram from my \u2063phone. It\u2019s still\u2062 possible \u2062to waste time and distract myself from my work, even \u200cwithout\u200c my phone. Google \u201cresearch,\u201d\u200d scrolling\u200c Amazon, or letting YouTube autoplay can still \u200bserve the same \u200dmind-numbing effect \u200dwhich, it turns out, is actually \u200cwhat I craved.<\/p>\n<p>Deleting\u200d Instagram from my phone taught\u200c me a lot about\u2063 myself, but \u2063it was no magic pill or quick\u200c fix. Without the app, I was still the \u200dsame.\u2062 It stopped masking what I needed to deal\u200d with, but after that big reveal, I had to \u200dconfront\u2062 and\u2063 resolve my issues.<\/p>\n<p>So perhaps the most important lesson I learned was that uncomfortable personal\u2062 growth\u2064 is far more\u200b rewarding and satisfying than followers and likes. \u200cThe two are not mutually exclusive, but one requires awareness while the other tends to fog awareness.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How did disconnecting from Instagram affect the\u200b person&#8217;s life?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200bPost this\u200b on Instagram! It would make\u200b a great picture!\u201d \u2063I was constantly thinking about how to present \u2062my life to others, rather than just living it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Disconnecting from Instagram allowed me to\u2062 see the negative effects it was having on my life.\u2064 It was consuming my time and attention, distracting me from \u200cmy responsibilities and relationships. I realized that\u200d I was using it as a means\u2062 of escape, a way to avoid the real work and engagement that was required of me.<\/p>\n<p>Since disconnecting, I have experienced a newfound freedom and presence \u2063in my\u2064 daily life. I am able\u2063 to fully engage with my \u200bwork, my family, and my hobbies without the constant pull of\u200b social media. \u2064I have rediscovered the pleasure of reading books and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/people-see-wholesome-overseas-mcdonalds-ad-realize-what-the-companys-doing-here\/\" title=\"Overseas McDonald's ad reveals company's true intentions\">spending quality time<\/a> with \u2062my loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>Disconnecting \u200dfrom Instagram has also taught me the importance of intentional living. It has shown me that I don&#8217;t\u2063 need to constantly document and share every\u200d moment of my life in order \u200bto validate\u2062 my experiences. I can simply live in the present \u2064moment and enjoy it for what it is.<\/p>\n<p>Of \u2064course, there are\u2063 still times \u200dwhen \u200dI\u2062 miss the connection and inspiration that Instagram provided. But I have\u200b found other ways to fill that\u200b void, whether it be through books, podcasts, or meaningful conversations with friends. I am no longer reliant on social\u200b media for validation or entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>Disconnecting from Instagram was a challenging decision to \u200bmake, but one that I am grateful for. It has allowed me \u2063to reclaim my time, my attention,\u200d and my authenticity. I\u2064 encourage everyone to take a \u2062step back from social media every now and then and see how it\u200c impacts your\u200c life. You may be surprised at the\u2063 power\u200b of disconnecting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In mid-2020, I took a remote grad class at New St. Andrews College. The reading list was filled with books I owned and longed to read for years. The professor, known for challenging students, motivated me. Despite this, I also managed to publish my own written work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1698,"featured_media":2141083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2141082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1698"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2141082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2141083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2141082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2141082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2141082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}