A 7 Day Social Media Detox to Enter The Flow State
I feel like a more productive person now
You have hopes and dreams and goals you want to accomplish.
You wake up every morning with the desire to be productive.
You have the intention to move forward on your projects.
Shortly after the alarm rings, you pick up your device, and you are flooded with notifications. As soon as you open your eyes social media apps are trying to steal your attention. You make a mental promise to just check your messages real quick and then you’ll get started with your day. It’s a slippery slope and before you know it you have spent hours mindlessly scrolling between social media apps. Does this sound like you?
Do not worry, you are not alone in this. Often I find myself getting caught in the wormhole of social media scrolling even when I aspire to separate from my device and get moving on my dreams. For many years I have felt called to the journey of content creation but after a few short weeks of productivity, I would find myself stuck spending hours everyday on these apps without accomplishing much. I recently grew tired of the impact social media was having on my brain and went on a quest to discover why it was impacting me the way that it was and to figure out what I could do to use this tool more effectively going forward.
In this article I am going to share the basics of how social media impacts your brain, what the flow state is and how social media is blocking it, and a plan for a 7 day social media detox to increase your productivity.
How Social Media Effects Your Brain
Human beings are on the quest for pleasure. On average humans are using social media apps for 2–3 hours daily. It is no secret we want to feel good. Social media and advertisers know this and have designed a system to give your brain a short boost of pleasure every time you log in. This dose of pleasure does not last unfortunately and it keeps you in the maze searching for more.
To understand why this is happening to us, we must first begin to understand what portion of the brain is being impacted in these moments. Social media is triggering our brains dopamine response. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with wanting. Dopamine is particularly interested in new rewards. This response is satisfied when introduced to a new pleasurable stimulus but shortly after receiving this information it is on the hunt for the next thing. Social media fits this narrative as it is engineered to produce constant short lived pleasure through likes and engagement.
The danger of social media lies in the fact that this pleasure center is constantly being stimulated. Dopamine plays a major role in our bodies motivation system. We want to feel good but according to the laws of energy we want to follow the path of least resistance in order to achieve this.
Working on our dreams, or attempting to learn a new skill requires effort. Accomplishing these things will release dopamine but the frustrations and the effort along the way will not. This is why when you are attempting to be productive your brain is craving to check your social media apps instead. Your brain knows this dopamine stimulation is readily available, and it is easy to get from this source. The more we allow this dopamine center to be unconsciously stimulated by our social media apps the harder it becomes to conjure up the motivation to do anything our brain determines to be challenging.
The Flow State
I have read countless articles on the flow state and how to enter this mystical land where suddenly we achieve more in 2 hours then we normally would in a whole day. One day I was deep in a YouTube wormhole about the flow state and suddenly I heard the phrase that changed it all.
The flow state is uninterrupted present moment consciousness.
In order to reach your optimal efficiency you must be focused. When you become so presently focused on the task at hand that the outside world does not even exist that is when you have found the flow state. Knowing that the flow state is uninterrupted present moment consciousness, I began to become aware of how social media is blocking my brain from entering this state.
Every time a task became difficult I felt the need to check my phone, this is blocking the flow.
Every time I entered a flow state my phone would buzz with a notification, I would check this notification and this would cause me to exit the flow.
Every time I spent hours mindlessly scrolling, I became filled with ideas and opinions that were not my own and it left me in a brain state that was not optimal.
Becoming aware of what the flow state is allows the opportunity to enter it more easily. Uninterrupted present moment consciousness. When I begin a task that I know will be challenging I remind myself of this phrase every time my brain looks for a distraction to fill its pleasure centers.
7 Day Detox Plan
Social media detoxing is a relatively new trend in which we essentially fast from receiving the pleasure these apps provide. In return doing this detox will allow you to gain clarity on your present situation and to restore motivation to complete the things you have always wanted to but maybe lacked the focus to achieve. I have discovered many different plans for a social media detox but this plan I am sharing is my personal way to achieve clarity and separation from these apps.
Day 1 — Delete all social media apps from your phone
Day 1 is always the most difficult.
On day 1 we will begin the journey by deleting every social media app from our device. I know, I know it’s hard, but if we keep them installed on our device our brains will default to its normal pattern and click on the icon.
On the first day you will notice cravings to use these social media apps. You may subconsciously find yourself swiping around on your home screen looking for these apps. You may also feel slightly bored or experience social anxiety because you no longer have these apps installed to fill down time. This is ok, this is part of the process of breaking our attachment to these apps.
Day 2 — Find a source of relaxation
On day 2 I encourage you to explore a source of relaxation.
This may be meditation, a movement practice like yoga, reading a book, going for a walk, or simply just hanging out listening to music you love.
Social media keeps our brains locked in the beta state. The beta state is associated with waking consciousness but the higher levels of the beta state are associated with stress and the fight or flight response. In order to achieve the flow states and deep focused awareness we must begin to consciously shift our brains to the alpha and theta states. This requires separation from our cellular devices and complete relaxation.
On day 2 we are learning how to relax into deeper states of being so we can increase our focus and awareness.
Day 3–4 — Start a new project or hobby you always wanted to
Often times the biggest obstacle to starting that new project or hobby you have always wanted to is “I don’t have the time for it.”
Social media consumption takes up a large amount of time and focused energy. During the course of this detox on average you may experience having 2 or more additional hours per day that you can now allocate to something else. In this detox we are aiming to instill new patterns and habits that we can continue doing even when we decide to consciously return to social media.
Starting the project is typically the most difficult step. When we begin the project and experience uninterrupted present moment consciousness it will begin to flow effortlessly. You will surprise yourself with how much you can achieve in a short amount of dedicated and focused time.
Day 5 — Start a gratitude journal
On day 5 we will begin a gratitude journal. It is common when detoxing from something pleasurable to experience a degree of sadness or frustration.
Our brain is no longer receiving dopamine hits from social media and this may lead to a slight depression due to a lack of perceived pleasure. I promise this is only temporary and this gratitude journal exercise will help to bring it in to perspective.
The exercise is as follows, on a blank sheet of paper write out,
“I am grateful for_________ because ________.”
We want to begin to shift our brains into a state of gratitude to understand and appreciate the things we have outside of social media. It is important to fill out the because section of this statement because it allows you to dive deeper into the experience of gratitude. The aim of this exercise is to find appreciation and pleasure for all the amazing things in your life that may have become under appreciated.
Day 6 — Think about how you’d like to use social media in the future
On day 6 we will begin to think about our intentions for social media use in the future. It is important that we do no return to mindlessly consuming and scrolling.
Social media is a tool for connection and a platform to share ideas. During this social media detox allow yourself to think about how you would like to use social media in the future.
Is there anyone or anything that triggers you? Unsubscribe from those people and channels.
Are you following accounts that are mindlessly filling space and not providing any value to your life? Unsubscribe from those people and those channels.
For myself I have always wanted to focus on content creation. I would spend a few weeks really going for it only to get sucked into the vortex of mindlessly scrolling. When I took a step back and began to understand how social media was impacting my brain, I was able to develop a plan for how I would like to use these tools in the future.
Day 7 — Determine if a longer detox would feel better for you
Day 7 is technically the last day but I invite you to explore if a longer social media detox would best serve you.
Earlier in the year I decided I needed a break from social media. The global pandemic was strengthening and my timeline was filled with various opinions on how I should be living my life. I was stuck in a vortex of misinformation and I wasn’t sure how I should be feeling. I decided I needed to take a step away from social media so I deleted all of the apps off my phone and computer. I originally planned on taking a week off and it turned into 4 months.
During this time away I went on a journey of deep self exploration to determine what it was exactly that I wished to share with the world. I began to take control of my own health and well being and formulated my own opinions of the world. When I returned to social media I was able to return with new tools that are better suited for me to maintain my well being in the sea of infinite opinions.
You Can Do It!
Detoxing from anything can be challenging but I am confident you can do it.
Even if you only do it for a few days, you will at least begin to feel social media’s effects on your brain. As you begin to allow separation you can begin to focus intentionally on how you would like to feel and how to best use your time.
Social media is a tool that is new to our lifetime and as it grows it is important that we make it work for us instead of us working for it.
To hear me speak about this topic, check out this YouTube video I posted.
