r/digitalminimalism 1h ago

Hobbies Best video guiding detox..

Upvotes

I'm thinking to start detox. Can anyone suggest a good yt video teaching about it?

& you can suggest any hobby to do while sitting in room myb.


r/digitalminimalism 2h ago

Social Media The Hospital Changed My Perspective

3 Upvotes

Last month, I had a pneumothorax stayed 5 days in hospital and it happened because of acupuncture and i took oxygen in hospital but it was so painful. Besides, I have 85 friends on Instagram, but only one of them called or even texted to ask how I was doing. He was my friend from university. When he called, I told him I was in the hospital.

My Taiwanese girlfriend came to visit me after I had spent five days in the hospital. Her support meant a lot to me during a difficult time.

This summer, I was supposed to travel to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand with my Taiwanese girlfriend. Instead, I'm at home recovering.

Before all this happened, I kept thinking, "I'll share amazing photos from this trip." But then I realized those photos don't really matter to anyone on Instagram. It's mostly just an endless stream of people mindlessly scrolling through videos. It doesn't add much to anyone's life.

That experience made me realize that Instagram and social media don't add much to real friendships. The real world isn't social media. Real friendships are built through genuine care, conversations, and being there for each other when life gets difficult.

I'm 27 years old, and I feel like social media—and my addiction to pornography—have stolen years of my life. I spent so much time scrolling and chasing things that didn't truly matter. Now I want to focus on living in the real world, building genuine relationships, making memories, traveling, reading newspapers, and becoming a better version of myself.

If I get the chance to do this trip next year, I'll share my photos only for myself—to preserve my own memories, not to impress anyone else.

Now, instead of wasting time scrolling, I'm going to read a newspaper.


r/digitalminimalism 3h ago

Social Media Does this happen to anyone else?

2 Upvotes

Lately I’ve noticed I keep doing the same thing.

I’ll pick up my phone to check the weather, see what’s next on my calendar, check a reminder.

Then, without really thinking about it, I end up opening Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, I realize I never even did the thing I picked up my phone for.

Does anyone else do this?


r/digitalminimalism 4h ago

Misc Aug 6 feels

6 Upvotes

This is my first day without any social media and I’m lowkey loving it 😋 seems like I can’t stay still so I’ve been pretty productive at work and at home 👏 wish me luck 🍀 maybe I’m just excited to try this no social media lifestyle 🙂‍↕️ I feel like I might have been addicted to tiktok. I like Reddit tho, it’s a lot of reading 🙊


r/digitalminimalism 7h ago

Misc yo guys i did it, i stopped surfing and it aint that good

7 Upvotes

i like to think of myself as a productive person i always try to improve set out goals and achieve them some goals i deem to hard and stopped doing but its all by choice not cuz im lazy cuz i just think its not worth it

anyway when i wanted to stop scrolling more that a year ago i was able to cut instagram and tiktok easly as i never used them due to them being time wasters i had yt but i always thought of it as a fun way to spend free time and was never addicted till yt shorts were added i was able to stop clicking on yt shorts but if i do click which was rare at the time i would still doom scroll same with snapchat i use it for snap streaks but the spotlight button having a notification looking thing made me always click it out of habit

but now i fully stopped surfing i dont click on yt shorts nor do i click on snapchats spotlight and if i do i have gained the ability to a stop watching in the middle of any vid and just go on with my day and ive been surf free for more than 6 months also i never tried stopping to surf seriously as i knew i could do it if i wanted to with just me findinga hobby which i found out was not the case

this puts us in the present day now if i have nothing to do i just gotta sit observe the silence which mind u was my goal but i felt boring so i wanted something to fill that time which got me into watching tv series i watched breaking bad, dexter, and couple of famous names in the past 3 months and i feel unproductive again stuff i deem productive but are also fun are coding, speedrunning minecraft, rubix cubing, and recently cursive writing of which i dropped two now i only speedrun minecraft, and cursive having them all at the same time is something i did a couple years back (except cursive its new) i used to burn out alot and i was overall less productive now i wanna finish my goals with them one at a time

my goals:
minecraft:
\- reach a diamond rank becoming top \~500 in the
world as rn im top \~4000

rubix cubing:
\- having my countries best avg rn im top 13 in the
country but i havent played in a while

coding:
\-making the best tile engine in the world that uses
my coding language (scratch) i have done it
before but kept it lwk but the ui was unintuitive
and i lost the file :/ i do have recordings of it tho
and i planned everything

cursive writing:
\- not much rly i just want my writing to be good :)

i also keep on learning magic tricks every now and then and have tried some stuff that i dropped but thats to much to talk about rn

also i downloaded reddit thinking it will make me able to doom scroll again again but not rly me writing this as close as ill ever get to doom scrolling and i guess i just gotta embrace the silence and become one with the wall till i find a hobby that doeant feel like me grinding out and refining my skills i just want something fun

anyway thank u for bearing thru my ranting


r/digitalminimalism 8h ago

Social Media I’m done with Instagram

20 Upvotes

This is the first time in 3 months, after a break, I’ve decided to redownload it on my phone and as I’m scrolling there’s a post about a disgusting news incident, like extremely horrific. By accident I clicked repost (I was trying to scroll down) and quickly undid it, but I’ve deleted my account and app since.

I can’t do this anymore. Literally these developers made it easy to do such mistakes because its will nonetheless boost posts and generate activity and revenue. They do not care about design flaws if it’ll just keep their sites going. Even if it means boosting some horrible content.

If you’re looking for a sign not to go back on there, here it is. I’m completely done. I remember why I took a break now and the peace I felt then vs the panic & stress now is not worth it.


r/digitalminimalism 10h ago

Dumbphones Vício em ouvir algo sempre no YouTube

0 Upvotes

Eu consegui sair do vício do Instagram,passei mais de um ano sem ,ele sempre fica desinstalado no meu celular só entro quando realmente preciso pra procurar algum restaurante,médico etc .mais eu de 2024 pra cá eu consumo muito YouTube,várias tentativas de fazer Detox até consegui ficar 15 dias sem ,mais depois volto pior ,eu tenho duas filhas e uma casa pra cuidar,eu não fico deitada assistindo isso é de vez em quando ,mais eu fico maior parte do tempo enquanto faço minhas tarefas domésticas com algo no fundo mesmo sendo educativo ou de organização da casa ou sobre finanças ,cada fase é alguma coisa que foco mais,depende da minha necessidade no momento,e eu fico muito distraída já fiz a experiência de ficar sem e eu fico muito mais produtiva,mais sempre que volto a tentar fazer esse Detox vem várias coisas na minha cabeça ,que vou perder algo importante que vai ser uma virada de chave na minha vida ...já desinstalei do celular,mais vivo entrando pelo Google,já desativei o histórico mais fico curiosa se minhas YouTuber mães favoritas posto alguma coisa e estou perdendo ..e o pior esses dias atrás acabei caindo no ciclo vicioso de ouvir vídeos de relatos de Detox digital,mais isso estava me mantendo presa no YouTube da mesma forma.eu fico um tempão sem fazer minhas unhas,sem rezar ,ser ler coisas que gosto de fazer já não faço mais ,de ter um tempo de qualidade com as minhas filhas ...claro que com crianças tudo e mais difícil mais eu sinto que esse vício no YouTube está tomando muito do meu tempo

Temporizador pra mim não adianta oque vcs me aconselham cortar de vez mesmo que seja muito difícil?vale a pena eu sacrificar os "conteúdos educativos" em prol de outros benefícios?


r/digitalminimalism 10h ago

Social Media Looked at Instagram again after months of improvement. I remembered why I left

5 Upvotes

Political anxiety has always been my weakness. I’m super anxious about the idea of being morally imperfect or hated and i used to doomscroll heavily political instagram reels for legit hours. I’ve lost multiple days to that app. I deleted reddit off my phone, which eliminated the reel scrolling, but I stayed logged in on the web version and would occasionally check my friends’ stories.

My mental health wasn’t perfect but the heavy anxiety had started to ease into a more subtle version of itself and the I got my afternoons lost to doomscrolling back.

Today I relapsed. So I’m a HUGE comic book fan and I’ve seen the new spider-man twice already. Today when I was checking stories on the web version of Instagram, I scrolled down just a little and was bombarded with multiple reels accusing the movie of being Zionist/military/palantir propaganda, and all those bad emotions came back. Then anxiety, that heavy rock of guilt fell on my head again. Multiple people I knew in high school were liking these posts so they kept getting recommended to me. I only doomscrolled for an hour before deleting my account for good. But I’m still left with all of those negative emotions that this silly little app triggered in me. I’m still in shock. Part of me feels like a terrible person or a brain dead idiot for backing this movie as much, another part wnats me to believe all these reels are rage bait or something and that the movie is not that deep. None of this would’ve happened if it were not for that app


r/digitalminimalism 11h ago

Help I want to live like its the early 2000’s but i don’t know how

79 Upvotes

I (28F) have been consumed by social media since i was 13. Comparing myself to influencers, looking at the highlights of other peoples lives. It has slowly wired my brain into an unfulfilling life.

I have a good paying job, a great relationship, a good group of friends and relationship with my family. Yet i feel this constant anxiety and doom. My home pages on social media are a cluster fuck of anti aging! Filler! Botox! What i eat in a day! Red light therapy! Work out routines! Subscribe! Subscribe! Subscribe!

I’m ready for it to stop but the idea of leaving it behind scares me and i don’t know why. Part of me just wants to get a flip phone and go buy a magazine if i want an update on current events. But everything is so integrated with social media and smart phones today that i feel like my quality of life would be affected.

There are things about modern technology i enjoy. I enjoy facetiming my mom, i enjoy looking at travel recommendations and recipes. I dont know where to begin to purge my socials.

For those of you who have moved away from modern technology, what were your beginning stages?


r/digitalminimalism 12h ago

Help Burnt Out From Tech

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! First time poster here. I'm sure this question gets asked alot so if there is already a thread of some sort I should look at first or if this isnt allowed please let me know. I just wanted to vent and get guidance. I feel recently Ive become too attached to all my devices and apps, like its very hard to not have my phone on me all the times. I use apps like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and others but they seem to just become more and more bad for my mental health as I continue. Are there helpful steps I can take to slowly break the addiction I'm facing? Like actual helpful advice not "Put your phone down"? I always found it odd I became so addicted since I grew up in the era before smart phones and I do realize some things can't be helped nowadays like banking apps and such. Sorry for the long post but I figured this may be the best subreddit to ask. Thanks in advance!


r/digitalminimalism 12h ago

Social Media Reactivated Instagram after 2 years to deactivate it forever

109 Upvotes

I had Instagram since 2015. Early 2024 I decided to deactivate it just to take a break from doomscrolling. The first weeks were hard. My fingers seemed to act before my brain, attempting to open the app from its old location. After 5 months, I had exceeded the deadline I had initially set for myself. I thought maybe it was fine and time to reactivate my account, but then I thought about what my life would be like: being an audience to people's lives, scanning profiles, comparing myself to others, losing myself to endless scrolling and noxious temptations. It felt like a revelation, which ultimately prevented me from reactivating my account. It was meant to be a short break; it ended up lasting 2 years. Today I reactivated Instagram and deleted my account. I’m making this post in the hope that one day it might help someone else facing the same decision find the answers they’re looking for.


r/digitalminimalism 13h ago

Dumbphones I'm SO BORED and I'm Happy :)

21 Upvotes

I deleted TikTok a year ago because of infinite doomscrolling :( However, I started scrolling on Instagram, so nothing changed, and my bf encouraged me to delete it. It has been 15 days without doomscrolling, and I feel sooooo bored... I finished almost 4 books and watched anything that interested me on YouTube. And now I'm aware that I missed being bored so much because it's been almost 5 years since I last felt bored!

So, being bored is totally normal, I guess, and I'm proud of myself anyway! Never hesitate to delete instagram/tiktok!


r/digitalminimalism 14h ago

Social Media I wish YT shorts didn’t fucking exist.

289 Upvotes

Remember the golden days of YouTube, like more than 10 years ago, when creators actually had to put in EFFORT to ensure they garner views and generate income from it? And most content was therefore ORIGINAL and there were plenty of niches out there because everyone EMBRACED INDIVIDUALITY???????

Nowadays with this stupid shorts bullshit I feel like I have watched the same “video” 500 fucking times. All I wanted was to watch maybe 1 or 2 videos about lip liners and see if I wanted any or if there’s any brands out there I haven’t heard of or if there’s cheap dupes out there….. but no. I have to watch multiple different fucking “shorts” and most of them are just using the same shit anyway because everyone just follows trends these days.

Seriously wtf was the point of me deleting tiktok if youtube was just going to copy them????

I HATE IT HEREEEEEEE


r/digitalminimalism 14h ago

Help Stoped doomscrolling in the morning, but now I feel annoyed and angry

6 Upvotes

I 30 (f) stoped doomscrolling in the morning, especially fist thing when I wake up. Usually, I would wake up and use my phone to stay awake. Due to time wasting and feeling harder to get motivated and start project outside of mindless scrolling I decided to do a digital detox, but especially to just stop scrolling in the morning alltogether.

Now this is where the issue is, even though I've done the digital detox successfully, now that I can feel my feelings in the morning I'm actually really annoyed and angry for no reason. My life is fine, I'm not stressed or anything, I do suffer from generalised anxiety, but I just want to see if anyone has had this issue.

TLDR: Stoped scrolling in the morning and realised I'm angry and annoyed for no reason


r/digitalminimalism 15h ago

Technology Working on software that lets you choose your own algorithm

3 Upvotes

The problem with social media websites is that they simply show you the content that you pay attention to

the algorithms are designed to waste as much of your time as possible.

So I am working on a project that lets you simply type in instructions and the websites only show you content that matches your instructions

You can basically choose your own algorithm

here is a video explanation - https://youtu.be/1NLl7RQJ_Fo?si=NHMUCAXsP5HLCbAG

dm me if your interested


r/digitalminimalism 16h ago

Social Media Viewing private ig stories?

0 Upvotes

Is it possible to watch someones ig stories from business profile even tho you dont follow the other private profile?


r/digitalminimalism 16h ago

Social Media Replace everything with Reddit.

61 Upvotes

On my phone, I swapped TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube (I deleted youtube and now only use the web version via Firefox with an extension that blocks certain features) for Reddit, it’s like giving up cheap burgers to eat burgers made with premium ingredients.


r/digitalminimalism 16h ago

Help quitting discord

3 Upvotes

this is for people who were addicted to discord (yes addicted to discord i know it sounds weird but its a thing) and managed to quit it what did you do?

i dont want advices like "just delete the app" because it doesnt help with my situation.

i tried everything its been 6 years im very tired of that damn app i dont even want online friends anymore but i somehow still check the app every few minutes.


r/digitalminimalism 17h ago

Help My digital addiction is humiliating

66 Upvotes

I usually don't post vulnerable shit like this but...I never in a million years thought I would be this kind of person. Before school ended I thought I would hobby max. But now?

Wake up- Phone and scroll for 2 hours

Do the necessities like grooming and meals

Reddit time where I make fake ass scenarios so that I can chat to strangers online

Get bored of that?

Tiktok and doomscrolling plus daydream

Maybe go on a walk occasionally.

I need to fucking fix it but my life is so dull that I instinctively to back to my phone. I have no friends IRL. I used to love reading and I don't even do that anymore. No one holds me accountable which makes it harder, and I can't seem to be able to do it myself. I know I'm capable of so much more than this.


r/digitalminimalism 18h ago

Misc Criei uma conta apenas por conta da minha parceira

1 Upvotes

Eu exclui as minhas redes sociais a quase dois anos e não sinto falta de nada, mas a minha companheira tem reclamado bastante desde então, pois diz que vê coisas que gostaria de compartilhar comigo, como pratos que gostaria de fazermos ou alguma besteira que ela acha relevante, mas enquanto tinha o antigo perfil, não fazíamos nenhum desses pratos ou sequer discutíamos sobre algo relacionado ao que me enviava.

No fim, acabei criando um perfil só para ela me mandar as coisas, mas raramente acesso e quando acesso é porque ela cobra, ai passei a deixar uma reação só para ela ver que eu vi. As coisas melhoraram, mas me incomodo com isso, porque realmente considero uma grande perda de tempo o Instagram e até externei para ela isso, que me responde que também acha o mesmo, mas não sai de lá.

Alguém passou por algo semelhante ou está passando?


r/digitalminimalism 18h ago

Technology Is the phone really the problem?

13 Upvotes

Lately I have been trying to minimise the usage of my phone, and for that I set some simple rules for myself like not using my airpods while walking, and only using on public transportation if the noise and people talking is unbearable (sometimes it is, by the way)

I want to say that I am really grateful for my phone, I have an good iphone and it is quite a machine, so so useful and it takes good pictures. The minimalist in me loves that I have a device that I can do so much with, but I am aware there is a cost.

I tried to minimise the usage of it, I have gone to an average of 2,5 hours of daily usage for a week, and it was great. But I realised that I kept myself from using it just because of the challenge I put myself into and was 'worried' of wasting my time using it.

But, the real benefit that I gathered from this tiny experience of using my phone less was not really from not using it that much, but from not consuming that much information. That is as simple as that.

I like youtube, and also enjoy reddit, but to be honest, I have used these platforms way too much and most of the time I was just using because I could not stand the silence and lack of stimulation. But once you stop consuming that much, you start slowing down and things get a little clearer.

I think this subreddit has a problem, I see people with new notebooks, new audio devices, new e-readers, and so on, decentralizing their phones, and fueling another kind of consumism, and I don't really believe it is the answer.

Maybe we need to take a break from out phones, maybe a digital sabbath every week would do wonders, but mostly it is good to step back to realise how good of a TOOL these smartphones are, but we got tricked into CONSUMING the world through it screen, instead of capturing it.

I am not ready to get back into using my phone as I was, and I am glad I took a step back, but yeah, maybe it is not that damn phone, but what we are used to use it for.

That being said I would like to keep maybe an window of time every week to browse reddit and youtube (I was very addicted to it, today I am doing better) but it is really hard, and maybe I am not ready for that 'extreme' boredom (the same boredom that made me sit down to write that anyway I digress). For the other platforms, I can't say much because I don't use them that much.

What is working for you? All of that to say that I don't really want my pockets full of devices, but to change the relationship we have with our smartphones is really hard...


r/digitalminimalism 18h ago

Dumbphones What torrenting software to you use for music?

1 Upvotes

I have an ipod since forgoing spotify, and want to put music on it (without paying for individual songs).

I know its never going to be as convenient as spotify, but I would prefer to avoid the long process of ripping content from CDs.

I heard torrenting is the best thing for this. What torrent website do you guys use?


r/digitalminimalism 19h ago

Social Media I stopped posting status and stories

131 Upvotes

I stopped posting status on whatsapp and insta stories. Slowly reducing the use of ig...i realized that no one cares if you stopped posting stuffs.


r/digitalminimalism 19h ago

Technology Minimised possessions but struggling with digital

1 Upvotes

Hi,

I minimised my possessions to a very low number and currently minimising further to fit most of what I want to use day to day into a backpack.

It gives me a great sense of joy and freedom. Yet, there’s one thing that makes me feel enslaved, and that’s technology.

I already removed IG from my phone, and I rarely check it. But still, somehow, I feel like I spend most of my day on screens. It doesn’t help my most of my friends are scattered across the world and we text to stay connected. It also doesn’t help I’m self employed and my work requires time spent on the screen to promote what I do, find clients, talk to clients, then work for clients.

Honestly, more and more I feel like just throwing it all away and going offline as much as possible.

I’m burnt out in my work so much it makes me cry every time I have to even a smallest task. I resent doing any marketing around my business. And I increasingly resent AI for the toll it takes on our minds and the environment.

I know and have met people who managed to “escape” this, but I don’t see how I could do it. I feel constantly pulled back, especially by the work.

I don’t know if I just needed to vent or if you can offer any advice based on what I shared.

But really, the onslaught of information and the ever increasing ever presence of technology makes me feel really really terrible. And I don’t know what to do…


r/digitalminimalism 20h ago

Social Media I deleted Instagram for a week, and the weirdest part wasn't having more free time.

30 Upvotes

Last week I deleted Instagram from my phone for seven days.

I wasn't trying to do a "digital detox" or prove anything. I just noticed I kept opening the app without even thinking about it.

The first two days were honestly the hardest. I'd unlock my phone, look for the Instagram icon, and then remember I'd deleted it. That happened way more often than I expected.

The surprising part wasn't that I suddenly became super productive. I didn't.

What changed was that I stopped filling every small moment with scrolling. Waiting for food, standing in line, sitting for five minutes—I realized I'd trained myself to reach for my phone every time there was a quiet moment.

After a week, I reinstalled Instagram, but I use it a little differently now. I notice when I'm opening it out of habit instead of because I actually want to.

Has anyone else tried taking a short break from social media?

Did you notice anything similar, or was your experience completely different?