Deep breaths.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally taking the steps to disconnect from social media. The image of Neo unplugging from the Matrix comes to mind. This web, this system of hooks pulling us in deeper and deeper by the day until it feels almost impossible to escape. In fact, the idea of leaving social media feels almost laughable.

It was about 20 years ago when I first opened MySpace. That list of Top8 friends, html with embedded music – anyone else remember the awful auto play you couldn’t stop? – trading Neopet items for custom backgrounds. Ah, those were the simple days.

Jump to 2025. The incessant buzzing of trends, of comparison, of failure. This endless craving, pulling at the core of my brain telling me to scroll for that dopamine hit in order to pull myself through the day.

I know I’m not the only one.

Then I turned 34.

Something about this birthday in particular has given me a push to change. I guess you could say I’m still in my early 30s, I still have plenty of time. And yes it’s true, 1/3 of life gone by and 2/3 to go – if I’m lucky – so why this number?

Perhaps I’ll be able to answer that in another post. But even I don’t know the answer quite yet.

Deep breaths.

Sitting in a cafe on the evening of my 34th birthday, trying to take that precious sliver of alone time – oh so precious as a parent of littles – and turn it into something more.

Something more than scrolling.

More than comparing.

More than feeling like not enough.

That’s when it all fell into place.

We all know it. That moment when things finally, finally, just click into place.

Click

Of course I’d been thinking of reducing my screen time. Let’s be real. I’ve wanted to reduce my screen time for years but it has always felt impossible. But for some reason, my 34th birthday was my rock bottom with social media and now I’m crawling my way out.

And that’s where I wrote some new rules for myself for my 34th year.

1. No social media, except for Fridays
2. No news sites, at all – at least for now
3. Run 1 day a week
4. Get on my yoga mat 1 day a week

I’ll share more about these rules and how it’s going in my next post.

For now I’m going to stop overthinking this and hit publish.

Less of this

And more of this