LESSONS FROM MY SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX, 9 MONTHS IN

Back in late 2025 I did the maths on how much time I was spending on social media, thanks to a screen time app that rewards you with little digital gems for staying off your phone (ironic, I know). I was horrified to find that my average was 40 hours a week. 40! That’s basically a full time job, except the pay was zero clients, zero business coming in from socials, and a nervous system that felt permanently switched on. I wasn’t learning anything either. I was just scrolling, and I couldn’t stop.

The truth was, I was addicted. I’d tried going offline many times, and every time it felt great, until I went back online and the scrolling crept straight back in. The closest comparison I can find is someone in recovery from alcohol walking into a pub and expecting not to drink, except there are a dozen bartenders throwing free drinks at you, all day, every day. You don’t stand a chance in that environment. I’m not saying the two are the same, but it makes me wonder why we laugh about social media addiction like it’s the one that’s somehow ok?

I find that interesting…

Let’s Do the Maths

So here’s the bit that is incredibly sobering (that I absolutely enlisted AI’s help with because maths isn’t my forte!). 40 hours a week, over twelve months, adds up to 2,080 hours. That’s 87 full days, almost three months of my life, non stop, no sleep, no breaks, spent looking at a screen watching other people’s highlight reels.

Even if you only count waking hours, that’s still 130 days. Over four full months of being awake, gone.

For context, the global average is somewhere around 2 to 2.5 hours a day on social media. I was doing almost 6. And for neurodivergent brains like mine, that’s not unusual. Research suggests that autistic and ADHD adults tend to spend more time on social media and are more likely to get caught in compulsive scrolling. Not because we lack willpower, but because these platforms are built on endless novelty and reward, which is basically catnip for a brain like mine.

As for the 2,080 hours…well, that happens to be the same number of hours in a standard full time working year. A whole unpaid job, run entirely on my attention, with zero salary and a burnt out nervous system as the only payslip.

And here’s the thing that shocked me the most. At Instagram’s estimated ad revenue of roughly $1 to $1.25 per hour of user attention, my 2,080 hours a year also handed Meta about $2,000 to $2,600. That same 2,080 hours, put into my own business, is worth tens of thousands of dollars more. So I wasn’t just wasting time, I was clocking on to a ‘full time job’, working for a company that wasn’t mine, for a wage of exactly $0, and calling it trying to ‘keep up’. As someone who highly values my energy, that price was way too high.

So if you’re reading this and you’re not sure whether your own screen time is “that bad”, please do the maths yourself. If time is money, how much are you spending on social media? And is it time well spent?

Committing to a Twelve Month Social Media Detox

Given the horrors of what I just shared, I decided to do an experiment that might feel a little extreme to some - 12 months offline with no Instagram, Facebook or TikTok (I still use email and a few creative tools, but no social media feeds and mindless scrolling). An experiment, with me as the only person in it, to see what actually happens to my life and my brain if I take social media out of the equation of daily life. I'm a rebel by nature, so I don’t mind going against typical norms, clearly.

I’m nine months in now, so I’m three quarters of the way there. Here’s what’s actually happened so far.

The First Few Weeks

The first few weeks were hard. But honestly, they were also a relief.

I didn’t just delete the apps, I moved off my iPhone completely. I started fresh with a new phone (but I picked the most unattractive and uninteresting phone I could find that still functioned), a Motorola. My friends thought I was crazy, but I knew I needed to do this. I didn’t transfer my old photos or apps, just my top contacts. It felt like moving into a new house and only taking what I actually needed. Energetically it felt amazing and doing this helped more than I expected, because I wasn’t just detoxing from social media, I was detoxing from my phone.

So what did I do instead of scrolling? I read at night. I started listening to music again. I started doing art. I sat in silence. I cried. And I had early nights (who knew sleep was so good?!) More on this further down…

What About My Business?

This is the question I get asked most. And the truth is, my business never really came from social media anyway. Posting always felt draining, like I was screaming into the void (very on brand for a Projector, who’s designed to be invited and truly seen).

In fact, my business blew up in those first few months offline. I had more clients flow in, and earnt more in the first two months than I did in all of 2025. It was actually wild.

Then unfortunately (or fortunately, in other ways) I got sick, and things slowed right down for months. But I really needed that time too. At least my body did.

So no, I’m not sitting here as a raging financial success story (yet!). But from a soul and lifestyle point of view, I’m the most successful I’ve ever been. And sometimes I wonder how often success in these areas of life gets dismissed, simply because it doesn’t fit the traditional measures of ‘success’...

Nine Months In: What Has Actually Changed

1. I bought a hammock and got back into nature. Afternoons that used to disappear into my phone are now spent outside, enjoying the sunshine, walking, swimming and simply noticing life. Nature doesn’t need anything from you, and that’s exactly why it’s so healing. It also gives you energy and brings you back to what's important in life. Its been one of the most simple and grounding changes of this experiment.

2. I became friends with the kitchen and learned to cook, properly. Not reheating, not ordering in while I scrolled, actually cooking. Standing at the stove, with no phone propped up next to the chopping board. And using actual hard copy cook books. Cooking also connects you to the heart space, something that has also had a lot of attention during this time.

3. I picked up photography again with an actual camera. A beautiful friend gifted me an amazing Canon camera, and since I’d ditched my iPhone (and the Motorola doesn’t quite cut it), having a real camera has brought so much joy. Photography was something I wanted to do years ago and then I completely forgot I wanted this...the way you forget things when your attention’s been somewhere else for over a decade. Funny that. And because I wasn’t taking photos to post them online anymore, some moments from this year feel deeply etched into my memory. I was just fully in the moment. There’s even a name for the opposite of this, the “photo taking impairment effect”, where photographing everything means you actually remember less. Pretty crazy when you actually think about it.

4. My creativity has exploded. Intuitive art, drawing, painting, new creative ideas, all the creative pursuits I’d filed under “later” for actual years. Things I’d saved for “when I have more time” then never got around to, because there was always a screen or some other distraction to fill the time. Now I’ll just sit down and paint or draw with zero plan and no idea what it’s going to be until I'm done. There’s no getting it right or wrong, I just let whatever wants to come out, come out. I can also sit in boredom with ease now, which turns out matters, as research shows boredom actually boosts creativity by giving your mind room to daydream!

5. I had to feel my feelings (yes, all of them!). The harder part of going offline is that I’ve had to actually feel things, a lot of things. Where I used to just scroll past a feeling, I’ve had to sit in it and process it properly, and that’s been genuinely hard some days. Honestly, my mental health took a hit at first too. Around grief especially, as it waits for you patiently until you finally stop long enough to let it be felt. I’ve been sick throughout this experiment too, even spending months in bed at one point, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s like my body finally had room to process what it had been holding. The body does indeed keep the score, as we know.

6. My intuition has been LOUD. This has probably been the biggest thing to be enhanced. I’ve been able to hear it in a way like never before, because there isn’t a thousand other voices in my ear telling me what to think or want or post about, daily. Some of the times I’ve listened to it have led to profound encounters with people and may have even saved a life. Some of the ideas I’ve had in this time, may completely change the trajectory of my life and business too...only time will tell! Serendipity has been felt more than ever.

7. Love found me offline. One of the most unexpected surprises of this whole experiment, and I genuinely wasn't even looking! It's been really special, because we've built real memories together, and enjoyed so many moments completely offline. It feels sacred because it only exists for us, and those we choose to share it with. I feel incredibly grateful for this, and have been genuinely surprised by the impact.

8. I got a library card and deepened my learning. The original free subscription! I’ve read more books in these nine months than I had in the last few years combined, picking up new skills along the way, including going deeper into Human Design than ever before. Doing the work on myself, not just for clients, has shifted how I understand my own energy, my own path, and what actually feels aligned versus what I’ve been conditioned to push through. The biggest lightbulb moment was around my open Identity Centre (the G Centre in Human Design). With an open G, I take in direction, identity and even love from the people and places around me. Which means social media was basically feeding me thousands of other people’s identities every single day. No wonder I felt lost, confused and unsure of who I really was at times! Stepping away gave me space to hear what’s actually mine and real for me.

9. My focus improved (and my phone stays home more). I can read a whole book, watch a film (so long as it's interesting lol) or have a full conversation without reaching for my phone, and I happily leave it at home now. Turns out just having your phone within reach drains brainpower, even when it’s switched off, because part of your brain is busy not picking it up. One study even found two weeks without mobile internet improved attention as much as being 10 years younger. I’ve had nine months, so I’ll take that!

10. Remy Rev was born. In April I met my inner music artist and soul linguist who turns feelings and experiences into songs, with a little help from AI. I even wrote 20 songs that first weekend (not very analog, I know, but creating is a whole different energy to consuming, especially when music is your favourite language). I cried, laughed, sang and danced. I couldn’t believe how much storytelling was in me! I wrote songs about neurodivergence, grief, identity, self love, finding and losing love, my life and other people’s too. I’ve since published songs on Suno, released a track on Spotify, and I’ve even been paid to write and produce songs for others. You can check out one of my albums called Analog which was largely inspired by my time offline (Spotify hasn’t put me on their Wrapped yet, but one can hope. Ha!). I also learned to DJ with my partner, and somehow manifested a weekend learning from an amazing DJ from Spain (I know!!), who just so happened to be a new friend’s other half. I’m not very good (yet), but I absolutely love it. And I’m in my 40s, so consider this your reminder that you can start a new hobby at any age.

I also started writing again (this blog included!), and somewhere in the midst of all of this, I’ve started to know myself deeper, uncovering parts of me that had been lost along the way. The version of me from years ago who wanted to learn photography, make music and live more slowly and intentionally, but never quite got around to it because there was always too much distraction and too much to do.

Without constant scrolling, my life has become a space for deep learning, slowness, and presence. And the funny thing is, I didn’t go looking for any of it. It all just found me once I made room for it.

Social Media as an Environment, Not Just an App

One of the things that has surprised me most through this experiment, is the realisation that social media isn’t neutral place, it’s an environment. And if you’re sensitive to environments (newsflash, I am), you can take it on - the fear, the urgency, the doubt, the comparison…all of it, whether you’re posting or just watching.

Since stepping out of it I’ve noticed I’m carrying less fear day to day, as well as less self criticism and judgement. So it’s not a personality change per se, just less noise coming in. Research backs this up too, with studies linking cutting back on social media to lower anxiety, loneliness and depression, and constant social comparison is thought to be a big part of why. And for my spicy neurodivergent brain, open identity centre and sensitive nervous system, that’s incredibly important.

Pro Tip: Treat your social media feed like a physical room you’re walking into. If the energy would drain you in real life, it’s worth stepping out of, even temporarily.

Remembering What’s Real

There’s been a lot of nostalgia during this time too. Reconnecting with family I hadn’t connected with properly in a long time and memories from the past resurfacing as well as getting back into nature and going off grid.

Remembering what’s actually real versus what’s just curated to appear real, to take your attention away from what really matters. I realised this distinction is really important.

Here’s what I’ve remembered:

• Sacred moments are meant to be lived, not posted. The best moments with the people I love were never photographed for anyone else.

• Private isn’t secret, it’s sacred. Not everything needs an audience.

• Presence is precious, and a sign of respect. Being fully in the room, the conversation or the moment with myself or someone else is what matters.

• Finding my own voice is a process (and still is). Part of this was simply having the space to realise I’d lost it in the first place. Writing, music and creativity in all its forms have been a big part of finding my way back.

• Feeling my feelings is how I truly connect back to myself and what’s important. You can’t become who you truly are if you keep scrolling past the parts of you that hurt. Read that one again!

Important Lesson Learned: My life can be rich, full and deeply meaningful, even if almost none of it is documented online.

The Glimmers I Found

If you don't know what Glimmers are, they are the opposite of triggers. Tiny moments that tell your nervous system you’re safe. Without the constant scrolling and the algorithm, I started noticing them everywhere and daily! Here are some I thought to share:

• Watching the sky change as a storm rolls in

• Cooking with no phone propped up next to the chopping board

• The lyrics of a song dropping into my soul, writing them down, then turning them into a song

• Falling asleep in the hammock in the afternoon sun

• A whole conversation where nobody checks their phone

• Laughing with my partner until we cry

• Finding an octopus in the ocean and watching it change colours

• Watching the sunlight through the trees

• Dinner by candlelight, then painting to old school music

• Watching an echidna walk through my garden

• Building fairy gardens with moss from my garden and shells from the ocean

• Doing cartwheels with my niece for the joy of it

There were many more than this, but these are a few that come to mind.

*The photo of the tree above was taken on my camera, by me, from my hammock.

The True Cost of Scrolling - Your attention is currency, don’t think for a minute it’s not.

I know social media has some upsides, and I’m not saying it’s all bad. But for me, personally, it’s cost me more in health, happiness and wellbeing than it’s ever given back.

It’s designed to keep brains like mine locked in and addicted, and I simply didn’t want to feed any more billionaires with my energy (I even wrote a song about this).

Now that energy goes into my own life instead, and that feels incredibly liberating to me.

Looking Ahead: The Final Three Months

I’ve still got three months of this experiment left, and I honestly don’t know what the final stretch is going to bring. And I kind of love that. I have a sneaking suspicion that life is about to change in ways I never expected, for the better...it already has!

Your Turn: Take a Sabbatical from the Feed

So if this resonated with you, let me give you full permission to take a sabbatical too.

From my experience, you won’t regret it. You’ll likely need to feel things you’ve avoided for years (which isn’t easy!) but in the process, you may just find out who you really are, and the life you want to create for yourself.

Key Takeaways:

1. Do the maths. Your attention is currency, don’t think for a minute it’s not. Someone is being paid for every hour you scroll, and it likely isn’t you.

2. Your environment shapes you. If a room would drain you in real life, stop walking into it on your phone.

3. Make it hard to go back. Delete the apps, clear the clutter, or go full Motorola like me (even just for a period of time). The less tempting your phone is, the easier it gets.

4. Put distance between you and your phone. Even having it within reach drains your focus. Leave it in another room, or at home.

5. Treat it like an experiment. A weekend, a month or a nightly boundary. Notice what returns, then decide what’s actually worth letting back in.

6. Swap consuming for creating. Replace the scroll with something you make, cook, grow or play.

7. Get bored on purpose. Boredom is where creativity (and your own voice) comes back.

8. Clarity needs space. It’s pretty hard to hear yourself think when a thousand other voices are in your ear, daily.

9. Expect to feel deeply. The discomfort isn’t a sign it’s not working, it’s a sign it is.

10. You don’t need to document your life online to be living. The best parts of your life might just be the ones nobody sees.

I’ll share what the final three months bring in 2027. Until then, I’ll leave you with the questions that led me to this experiment: What would be different if you stopped giving your attention away and caring so much about what others think? Who would you be if nobody was watching? And what might you remember about yourself and what you love, if you gave it the space?

Big love,

Liz Lassig