1 year no social media, 50 days no caffeine
It’s now been a year since deactivating my Instagram account and deleting the TikTok app, and 50 days without caffeine.
While I’m not going back to caffeine, social media is a maybe. Here are my thoughts on both.
Social Media
I left social media (Instagram and Tiktok, don’t have X) in October 2024 because I was comparing myself, feeling icky and not confident posting, and seeing +1 hour vanish to those apps daily. I was thinking more about a virtual “they” than my own wonderful IRL friends. It just felt…off.
There were times in the past when I would delete the app for a week or so, but when I got it back, nothing would really change. So I decided to experiment and delete it for a few months. A few months later, I thought, Oh, this is actually pretty nice, and extended a few more months. The effects were so net positive that I kept going to a year.
Pros of Pausing Social Media
My concentration has shot through the roof. I can work, read, write, focus for much longer periods of time without checking my phone.
The noise of what I “should” be doing vs. what I want to do has quieted. I can much more easily hear what I am curious about, want to wear and want to do - not what’s in.
I care less about what people think and need less external validation. While I don’t believe us as social humans should (or could) survive without any validation, the validation I now receive directly from friends / family / work feels more concentrated and meaningful.
My existing friendships strengthened and deepened. I love getting photo batches from friends of recent travels. If a girlfriend needs something, she calls me and I’m there. Our friendships are not just highlight reels and likes. True friendship? Receiving a screen-recording of a funny reel / TikTok or an IG post screenshot of quotes or art.
New friendships felt direct and…layer-less, based on the person in real life and day to day, not what their digital aura was like. It goes both ways.
I noticed a trickle effect into other areas: I don’t listen to as many podcasts, music and or TV shows anymore as I get so much pleasure exploring my own ideas. It’s such a fun, interesting, creative place to be inside my own mind. I love this new habit of creating instead of consuming. Constant consumption felt like a mental bloat.
I don’t get panicked from news or have my emotions disrupted from scrolling. I stay informed on world events for work and my own investments, but I’m not sold to or shocked on an hourly basis anymore. My mind feels cleaner, cortisol lower and emotional bandwidth higher.
Speaking of work, I feel like I have so much more brain real estate for my 9-5. It’s silly but I actually get excited to go to work on Mondays and think through sovereign debt, learn about trillion dollar repo markets, mentally explore this world of finance.
Since I don’t have anything interesting enough on my phone to scroll through in line or commuting, I’ll read or do little energy / visualization practices. It’s magical to be able to sit on a train and generate joy, love, whatever feeling you want internally. As I’m writing this, I just remembered a wild email a man I spoke with a couple times at the bus stop sent to my FATHER. This man found his email (both professors and neighbours) and sent this:
How kind is it for someone to go the extra mile to send an email like this after a couple conversations at a bus stop?
I’m still able to get enough inspiration through Pinterest, ….tumblr……., BOOKS (!), conversations, events, work - so many sources outside of IG/TikTok.
I’m much more focused on how I’m designing my life and giving to the people around me. My life is my art.
I got 7+ hours of time per week back! Turns out I can train for a marathon with the time I used to spend scrolling on my phone? Running with my run group and girlfriends and catching up weekly brings me way more joy than an app?
6 hours out of my week that replaced social media scrolling, but adding up week after week has led my body to incredible new limits
Cons
I miss sharing photos as little works of art. I think art is meant to be shared. While I send photos to friends, sometimes I just want to… blast it out for anyone and everyone. I liked creating art-explaining videos and having friends say they learned something cool.
If I come across something impactful or helpful, I have an urge to share it so that someone else may find it helpful, too. Or even posting something here kind of goes out into the internet ether. The reach is not as big to your “looser-tie” relationships online. At the same time, I’ll send it directly to someone that comes to mind and maybe that’s just as good.
Honestly… that’s about it.
I was going to write “staying connected”, but my text / call screentime hasn’t gone down. I’m findable - people reach out to me on LinkedIn, my email is shared on this website, my number can be asked from a friend… I don’t feel “disconnected” at all, actually.
I have been toying with getting back to share art and personal finance (I strongly believe financial literacy brings your life to another level)… why not use media leverage to share good? I also miss sharing pretty photos of my loved ones.
After a year, I’m confident that my relationship has changed to social media and it could be used mainly as a creative outlet, but it is built to capture our attention and enable much more consumption vs. creation…we’ll see.
Caffeine
50 days is not much data, but I still wanted to note it down. I used to look at people who didn’t drink coffee in awe. Disbelief of those that resisted that glorious morning coffee ritual. However, the pros have been so good that I’m not going back.
No caffeine to me means no caffeine, not even tea. I absolutely do not count chocolate as caffeine, hell will freeze over before I give up chocolate.
Pros of no caffeine
No anxiety. I never made the connection between the two, but this post was what got me curious to experiment without caffeine. Just search up “caffeine anxiety reddit” and see for yourself.
My energy levels are consistent throughout the day. No more afternoon slumps. Waking up full of energy.
Way less spending on coffee out, although I will buy decaf if I’m out with someone.
Better skin. This is an interesting podcast but extreme (read between the lines).
Even more in tune with my body. If I’m tired, I go to bed earlier. There’s less “masking” of my actual energy levels, which leads to less build-up of tiredness over time when they’re immediately addressed.
Mentally, I feel like I don’t depend on any substances now. Maybe dark chocolate.
Cons of no caffeine
Literally none.
That’s my own personal experience with social and caffeine as of today (October 2025). Who knows what the future holds, but 1 year without social media and 50 days without caffeine have been net positive.
And guess what? I can share photos here!
Friendly reminder to take some time today to create, not only consume. :)
Katya