26 Subtle Signs It’s Time to Delete Socials (at least for a little)

And what to do instead

Welcome, December.

I noticed New York City’s first snowfall this week. Wrapped in a blanket on my couch, I sipped my milky coffee and stared out the window, watching the blue-purple light of dawn provide a still backdrop to the soft fall of snowflakes.

I was grateful to be looking up and not down at my phone, lest I miss a magical market of a new season’s beginning.

But it’s not always like that.

AI, make a “Clara nutcracker scrolling on iphone in Art Nouveau style”

December takes the cake for the most calming and hectic month of the year (how DOES she do it?!) From my little corner of Brooklyn, it’s quiet, but whenever I enter the busier parts of the city, I feel the rushing pulse of the city.

That constant rush—the low-grade stress—gets processed internally and often shows up in how we interact with our phones, which we pick up, on average, 144 times a day¹.

I delete the Instagram app from my phone once or twice a week, only re-downloading it when I feel balanced again.

Whether it’s for one, 24, or 48 hours, it doesn’t matter: any number of minutes we reclaim makes a difference. It’s one of my favorite ways to feel like myself again and remember who I am without the constant noise.

You don’t need to permanently deactivate your socials to find yourself again (though, that’s always an option). Removing the app from your phone keeps your accounts intact while eliminating the temptation to mindlessly scroll when the holiday stress ball bangs against the sides of your brain.

Follow these steps for total serenity. Your account will be safe, but any “drafts” in reels will be deleted, so make sure you’re okay with that first.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing—small changes can make a big impact. Here are some signs it’s time to delete TikTok, Instagram, or X.

An ad I kept getting served last month, where was it in 2019 when I needed to disappear?

26 signs you need to delete socials from your phone (plus some ideas on what to do instead):

1. You’re home for the holidays with only a limited amount of time with your loved ones, yet you find yourself scrolling an endless/infinite app with content that’ll always be there (when your family may not be).

2. Every time you check your email or answer a text, you watch your thumb automatically follow a movement pattern to open socials. It’s completely involuntary at this point, it’s like you’re not even in control. Are your thumbs even yours?

3. You wake up in the middle of the night and grab your phone for a nice little 3 AM scroll through the ‘ol FYP. Ahhhh, nothing like Wicked conspiracy videos on a bright screen four inches from your face to lull you back to sleep.

4. You start wondering if you should take Ozempic.

5. You realized over Thanksgiving weekend that you started every sentence with “this Reel I saw…”

6. The sound of someone scrolling through TikTok without headphones is going to drive you to call up your high school ex and ask for him back (even though he’s married with three kids).