Originally published on Typeshare

That’s a lie. I still have Twitter installed on my phone. But I promise you I restrict my Twitter usage to 30 - 60 minutes a day.

Social media was my addiction in 2021. Last December, I decided to become an active creator and not a passive consumer. Here are my reasons for (mostly) abandoning social media:

Constant Distraction⌗

“Unlock me Mauricio,” my phone said. “Browse Reddit for five minutes. Who cares about that work task. Reddit is way more fun.”

My productivity was terrible. I couldn’t focus on one thing. It was hard to maintain focus because I had an unconscious habit of opening social media. It frustrated me.

Not Living In The Now⌗

OH NO WAY!! MrBeast released a new video on YouTube. I gotta watch this, I thought. Sure, I was watching an entertaining video, but at what cost?

I wasn’t paying attention to the world around me. Did my son jump for the first time? I wouldn’t know because I was on social media. Did I bother asking my wife how her day was? Nope, I cared more about feeding my addiction. I was more preoccupied watching Instagram stories than living my life.

Junk Food Content⌗

Wait binge watching Squid Game is not a good investment for my brain? I thought while reading The Profile’s How to Improve Your Content Diet in the New Year. Polina Marinova introduced me to the concept of “content diet” and “junk food content.”

I was guilty of consuming “junk food content.” I would spend hours watching YouTube videos. And I have no idea how many minutes I spent browsing Reddit or Instagram. But I’m sure I don’t want to know the answer.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of this post on Twitter.