The most productive experiment of my life: what happened to my head, my energy and my backlog after 30 days with no feed and no stories.
One month without social media feeds and stories.
So far it’s the most productive experiment of my life.
On 3 September a YouTube video called “The Dopamine Pit” came up in my recommendations, and it completely changed how I think about screen time on my phone and about my own time management.
I love YouTube for always slipping me something useful.
In short, I stopped consuming short-form content.
The effect hit me from the very first days.
My head became clear and light. My brain stopped getting tired, and my internal battery stopped draining so fast.
Interesting thoughts and original solutions started showing up — for both day-to-day and big-picture problems.
Enough working memory freed up in my brain that I finally started on important tasks I’d been putting off for a long time.
In that one month I got more done, tactically and strategically, than in the previous quarter — maybe even the previous six months.
If you’ve seen the film Limitless, it does a good job of showing what it’s like when a person’s brain switches into another mode.
After the first month of this kind of digital detox, I can say I have no plans to go back to scrolling social media.
I’ve realised that giving up short-form content is one of the wisest decisions I’ve made in my life.