A couple of weeks ago, I deleted TikTok. Which isn’t a monumental thing, but I found that I was spending a lot of time scrolling and bypassing my own time restrictions. The TikTok algorithm had a sort of magical hold on me. A “10-minute break” would turn into an hour, and then suddenly it’s 8:45 pm and I haven’t started any homework. All I’d be left with is exhaustion and guilt.
Others might have more self-control than I do, but as the cycle repeated, I realized just how negatively TikTok was affecting my work ethic and mental health.
I’ve been focusing on spending more time on activities that make me happy or relaxed. Last semester was kind of a nightmare, and I want to start enjoying new things again. I started allocating more time in the day to do things that I love, and it’s really helped me feel more balanced with all of my work.
Here are some things that I’ve accomplished since deleting TikTok!
I started reading a lot more. Here’s a mini book review!
While spring cleaning, my mom and I cleaned out an old bookshelf in our office. I stumbled across a bunch of old books that I had bought but never read from middle school. My first book of 2023 was “The Square Root of Summer” by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. “The Square root of Summer” is a fun sci-fi romance that I definitely would not have understood when I bought it in middle school. Physics and hypothetical theories are intertwined within a girl’s memory of her past summer. Elements of her past begin to reappear, and she’s forced to face a past she doesn’t want to return to.
I read the book like a snack, and it reignited my love for reading. Since then, I’ve read “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover, which was just not a good book. I don’t understand the raving reviews because all it did was make me cringe and laugh but not in the way it was supposed to make me laugh. Both of the main characters are so hateable and I kind of hate-read through the entire thing.
My current book is “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,” which has been a little slow so far, but it’s so beautifully written.
Now, instead of laying on the floor and scrolling on TikTok for 2 hours before dinner, I read a book. While it felt like work at first, reading makes me feel more accomplished, and more refreshed than using my phone.
I also started crocheting!
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still really really bad. I’ve been crocheting the same ugly scarf since my birthday, and I’m still only ⅓ of the way through. Despite its unappealing look, crocheting has been another hobby that lets me turn my brain off and let my muscle memory take the wheel.
I especially like listening to Podcasts or listening to YouTube videos while crocheting. Sometimes feeling mindless is the only way for me to truly refresh.
Lastly, I started watching more shows with my family. I make time to watch at least one episode of a show with my mom before ending my day. It gives me something to consistently look forward to, and it forces me to end my homework before I start feeling miserable.
So far, I’ve watched “The Glory,” with my mom, which is a revenge K-Drama. It’s only a few episodes, but it’s already made me really excited about the second season.
I’ve also started watching “The Last of Us” with my entire family, and I’m really looking forward to the next episode. “The Last of Us” is based on the popular video game, and it definitely satisfies my love for apocalypse and zombie media.
Lastly, I’m currently watching the K-drama “May I Help You” with my mom. “May I Help You” is about a girl who can speak with the dead when she touches them. It’s cute and a little sad, but it’s been a nice end to my day.
Overall, I think that deleting TikTok has made a positive impact on my life. I feel much more fulfilled spending my time on activities that “expand my horizons.” I now know that there’s nothing wrong with spending time for myself after school, and spending time on things that I’m interested in rather than feeling sucked into an algorithm has improved my well-being.
Hi Elyse!
I hate to sound like one of those cranky old anti-technology geezers, but I wholeheartedly agree with you about the cleansing effects of a social media detox. For me, TikTok was the first to go during freshman year; I parted ways with Instagram last year (actually, my one-year Instagram-free anniversary is in a couple of weeks). Apart from social media’s frequently-mentioned negative effects on mental health, like you, I’ve found that staying off my phone has helped me spend my time in a much more fulfilling way.
To that end, we also share some pretty similar hobbies! I’ve been knitting (although quite inconsistently) since 7th grade, and I’m currently attempting a sock for the first time. It’s not going quite as well as I’d like, but as you mentioned, letting muscle memory take over for some time is undoubtedly therapeutic. While I knit I also like to watch shows – I’m currently working through Modern Family, which is the funniest sitcom I’ve watched in a while.
Finally, I started reading again over winter break. I just finished Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and after a college-applications induced reading drought, I’m excited to start discovering and devouring new books. One of my resolutions for 2023 is to read at least 15 books by the end of the year, and I have my sights set on The Joy Luck Club as my next read
Elyse,
I would say that deleting Tik Tok is a monumental thing. I think we all are completely aware of just how addictive that app and its algorithm are. I deleted it sometime last school year and ever since then, it has been hard to get off other social media apps that have the same type of Tik-Tok algorithm. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat, with their reels and spotlights. I know it is embarrassing to watch those and actually enjoy them. But, when you have absolutely nothing to do and your attention span has been severely shorted due to Tik Tok’s algorithm, then one of the first things I would spend my time doing is scrolling through Instagram reels. Yes, this is me saying that I have dabbled in both for a while. This then caused me to step away from social media completely (just Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter) which then means I now spend even more time on apps like youtube and Hulu. Regardless, other forms of entertainment include reading, working out at the gym, and playing video games. I find that the most fulfilling alternative to social media is going to the gym because it is the most challenging, so it has the most positive outcomes. I do like picking up a good book from time to time, but that is only when I am not in school and have absolutely nothing else to do on my agenda because I know that once I start reading, I will not be able to stop.
“I read that book like a snack” Elyse I will read your BLOG like a snack!! Hi hi, by the way. For starters, good on you for deleting TikTok!! I know that app has wasted my time more than I would like to admit. Hashtag me quite literally getting distracted by instagram reels in the middle of writing this. How slay of me, amirite? Anyways. I have heard the WORST reviews. Absolutely VILE reviews about “It Ends With Us”, and I don’t know how the hell that book got so much hype because I swear all I hear about it is that it’s the most laughably bad book they’ve ever read. Can I be real with you for a second? Don’t answer that, this is a blog comment. I think a bunch (a VERY LARGE BUNCH) of middle schoolers read a slightly smutty book to be “ooh so cool and mature” and thought it was the best writing because their mushy, underdeveloped brains could comprehend it quickly. I am allowed to say this, because that was me in middle school. I am glad you read some books you enjoyed more, and PROPS TO YOU FOR CROCHETING!!! You are doing so well and I am so proud of your scarf. Let me know if / when you need more yarn and we will go to Joann’s together. Thank you Elyse!!!!
I would like to have the self control that you have and delete social media off of my phone so that I don’t distract myself everyday. I unfortunately will not be doing that since it is just too hard and boring. I am a master of taking short breaks that are not as short as you expect them to be. I enjoy the feeling of time passing and my boredom diminishing as I look through my phone. There is always something funny to look at or a television show that needs to be watched or rewatched on Netflix and Hulu. I think that the idea of a more productive lifestyle would be incredible for me since I would be getting so much work done. Even waking up early in the morning is what I consider productive since there is all day to finish whatever you need to do. I have also gotten into reading books the same way that you have. I never did it before but now I’ve found book series that are amazing to read. The only problem is that I do it at times I should be learning in class. It helps pass the time in my boring classes by just reading while everyone else is working.
Hi Elyse!
I found it incredibly interesting to read about your experience after deleting TikTok. I believe that deleting that app requires a great amount of willpower that many would underestimate. The truth is, TikTok is incredibly addictive. On numerous occasions, I have told myself that I would delete the app, only to download it again it a few hours later because I missed the constant entertainment. It is for this reason, that I truly applaud you for holding your ground, and refraining from using TikTok. Since deleting TikTok, it is evident that you have found fulfillment in a variety of new activities. Often, social media can trap us in a cycle of unproductive scrolling, which leads to feelings of frustration and guilt, as you had mentioned. I have seen this to be especially true in my own life. However, by recognizing that there are many fulfilling activities outside of our phone screens, we can feel more satisfied with how we spend our time. For obvious reasons, I am much more productive when I simply put my phone down and focus on the task at hand. After reading your post about the positive experiences you had after deleting TikTok, I am motivated to attempt a social media cleanse myself, and to fill my time with more productive activities.
Hey Elyse, this must be a coincidence because I deleted Instagram a couple weeks ago as well. Like you, I found myself wasting so much of my time endlessly scrolling that I didn’t have any time left to work on the projects I planned to work on. Because of this, I had to make the executive decision to delete Instagram, and it is pretty cool to see others doing the same thing with social media apps. Since I never downloaded TikTok in the first place, I can now utilize every second of my time. However, unlike you, I have not been spending my extra time reading books because you will never catch me reading any book in my free time. Never. It is great to see that my fellow classmates are making efforts to better their lives and use their time in better ways and I encourage you to fight off the urge to redownload TikTok.
Elyse, it’s kind of eerie how much I relate to your blog post! I saw the title and immediately wanted to comment on it, because it gave me flashbacks to December of 2021 when I finally deleted Instagram and TikTok because it was killing my ability to focus. I redownloaded TikTok in about April, and it has been simultaneously enjoyable and also very guilt-inducing when I realize the 45 minutes I had to finish an assignment went towards scrolling on my phone. Reading your blog gave me the courage to re-delete TikTok off of my phone, and while I have devoted some of my former scrolling time to watch time on Netflix, my overall screen time is already going down, all credits to you! I love how you’ve actually devoted your extra time to refinding other hobbies, like reading and crocheting. Somehow, these are the exact hobbies that I have been replacing my phone time with! They are so much more engaging, and the tactile experience of feeling pages or yarn under your fingers and actually doing something with them other than scrolling up or down feels more productive and fulfilling. Congratulations on deleting TikTok, and I wish you the best of luck at refinding your old hobbies!
Hi Elyse! Clearly, this blog post has resonated with a ton of people, and for good reason. I also deleted TikTok last year, and am really glad I did — every couple of months, I redownload it for a day (then delete again!) just to check out what’s going on, and it’s scary how easy it is to spend a few hours completely absorbed in mindlessly scrolling. Looking back, although there’s certainly a lot of entertaining and helpful content, I think I’m often unnerved by how TikTok can lend itself to snap judgments and sometimes misinformation. Anyway, I really like how you talked about new pursuits that you’ve been able to pour time into recently. Reading more is definitely also a goal of mine for this semester, and I especially want to try and challenge myself to reach for new authors. I think it’s super cool that you’ve picked up crocheting! I’m not particularly crafty, but I’m hoping to also step back from social media a little more this semester and devote more of my time to more fulfilling activities, like learning guitar or trying out some new podcasts. Oddly, I’ve also recently been getting kind of into watching hockey, which has been a little out of character for me but a lot of fun. After a really busy first semester, I’m definitely hoping to slow things down and be more deliberate with how I spend my time now, and I think spending less time scrolling through Instagram and Twitter will be a good place to start.