A week after I deleted Snapchat, I realised something important: deleting one app doesn’t fix the underlying behaviour. The habit just finds a new outlet. Mine moved straight into Instagram.
So I took the next step.
I removed Instagram from my phone completely and kept only the browser version on my laptop. That way I preserve the parts I actually value — talking to a few people I care about, and posting some photography — without giving the algorithm 24/7 access to my attention.
The trigger was simple. One evening I caught myself scrolling through reels for 1.5 hours. Completely gone. Not thinking, not choosing, just drifting. And then, suddenly, it felt like snapping awake. As if someone switched the lights on in a room I didn’t realise I had fallen asleep in. The world around me came back into focus — the actual physical room, the time that had passed, the fact that none of those 1.5 hours had any meaning.
It reminded me of the conversation I had with my friend earlier — the one where we talked about how inefficient the world has become, how people autopilot their lives away inside loops designed to keep them numb and occupied. I keep returning to that conversation, because it made something clear: most people aren’t choosing their behaviour. They’re just following patterns installed by someone else.
Removing Instagram from my phone wasn’t a big heroic act. It was just a correction — a way to reclaim the small, invisible chunks of time where I’m most vulnerable to drifting.
Now, when I reach for my phone out of habit, there’s nothing waiting for me. No reel feed, no endless scroll. Just a blank moment where I realise, “Right. I don’t actually want to be here.”
And that’s the whole point.
I want my attention back. I want my tools to serve me, not occupy me. I want to feel awake, not sedated. The browser-only Instagram setup isn’t perfect, but it’s deliberate — and deliberate beats automatic every single time.