Day 017. Breaking the Scroll: 91 Days Off Social Media & Rediscovering Life IRL

A Millennial's Digital Detox Diaries: Reading is a proactive activity.

This was the colour of the sky the other day.

Without Instagram, I do feel like I am missing something—perhaps a sense of daily connection to things beyond my immediate surroundings or a lack of easily accessible dopamine inducing stimulations.

Though, I have replaced my addiction with a “better” habit: I am scrolling and reading more on Substack.

Whether this is good or bad, I am still deciding.

But, at least I am reading more—both online and offline— which is always welcomed.

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If you’re new here or just dropping by, welcome!

This October, I am writing a daily series (Mondays through Fridays) chronicling my eighth time on an Instagram sabbatical. I’ve welcomed this annual ritual since 2016, but this year, I am doing my longest departure and documenting my daily insights for you.

I can’t promise what each day will bring ;)

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Stay tuned—for a little while—to see what I’ll create.
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Reading versus watching.

• Reading engages our brains more.

• The act of reading demands activation of various brain regions.

• Reading requires sustained mental activity at every step.

Reading is actually quite a complex process:

1. Our minds must first decode abstract symbols into sounds.

2. Then combine those sounds into words.

3. We also need to make sense of those words.

4. Then assemble the words into sentences.

5. Finally extract meaning from those sentences and sounds.

6. Comprehend what’s being communicated.

If our minds drift, even for a moment, we’ll lose our ability to understand what we’re reading.

Reading replaces mindlessness.

Without the brain’s participation, the meaning of words are lost, the letters we see simply register as fancy symbols strung together in neat formations.

Try reading a foreign language you don’t understand.

I fell in love with the look of Burmese script, when I first visited the country years ago. But it only ever looks like cool squiggly symbols to me.

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We’re almost at the end of this series.

I promised to write throughout all of October, five days a week, documenting my thoughts and observations on what it feels like for an addict like me to quit Instagram.

Although I don’t identify as a heavy user, as I limit my Instagram use to one hour a day using its daily limit function, I am aware I am addicted to it.

• One, the fact that I need a timer to remind myself to stop.

• Two, because it’s not even on my main app menu, and I still can’t resist to keep using it or constantly automatically search for it.

• Three, even today, 23 days into my hiatus, I’ve caught myself trying to go onto the app another six times in the past week. Wild!

To clarify, I am fully logged off. I haven’t been logged on for almost a month.

The inviting bubbly pink ombre orange glow tempts me, constantly.

The app continues to taunt me as my ‘most-used’ app, conveniently at as the first pick on my phone’s search bar.

Yes, nearly three weeks in, I am still visiting the app regularly, on autopilot. Only to find myself totally disappointed—and stunned—at the lack of self-control and dopamine. Crazy!

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