Dry January - but for Social
My Plan for a Month of Partial Digital Detox
First, Let’s Talk About Boredom
When you cut out your usual crutches like social media, it’s uncomfortable. A weird silence and anxiety sets in and everything feels - well, boring. I mean, what’s the point of washing dishes if there’s no Youtube video playing in the background? Or sitting on the couch watching a movie if you can’t also scroll through everyone's IG feed at the same time?
But after a few days of resisting the urge to fill every gap of time with a hit of digital dopamine, something clicks. Your brain, which for biological reasons runs on autopilot, suddenly wakes up. You start noticing things, like how good your tea smells or that tiny idea you had three months ago starts blossoming into a full-blown project outline.
It’s like all the noise that covered your thoughts disappears and you’re left with...space.
Scientists (and by that, I mean the internet) say your brain has this magical “default mode network” that only kicks in when you’re doing nothing—like staring out the window or lying in bed trying to sleep. It’s the part of your brain that connects random dots and spits out big, creative ideas.
This is why boredom is a blessing, and it’s why I encourage my kids to be okay with doing nothing from time to time. Because just like us, they expect every minute of every day to be consumed by constant stimuli. But when I leave them to be bored, they inevitably come up with something really creative, like a new game made of paper cut-outs, a city made of blocks or a song made of misspelled lyrics because who cares about spelling when you’re creating? Boredom gets them out of their own way and into the process of making.
But when you’re on Instagram all the time? That network is basically sleeping. When you’re binge watching Youtube? Same deal. Your brain’s too busy processing external input to actually think or wander.
And so to be creative, we need to take breaks. This is normal. This is natural.
But what is crazy is how in today’s world, stepping away from social media and all its distractions feels like an act of rebellion, like you’re doing something you shouldn’t.
We live in a world that’s all about MORE: more productivity, more growth, more connectivity, more content. Taking a break feels like failure, quitting or just being plain lazy, when in reality taking a break is actually one of the most productive things you can do. But that’s not to say it isn’t hard, and we often need replacement behaviors standing by for the autopilot activities we’re used to doing, like launching Instagram first thing in the morning.
So here is a list of the 15 things I’ll be doing to when I need a crutch as I transition away from social this month and embrace boredom. Feel free to hijack any of this as potential options for yourself if you’re interested in also doing a modern dry January:
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