- anahitadubey13
How I Post Regularly Yet Spend Less Than ONE HOUR PER WEEK on Instagram
In my family, there is an unsaid tradition - the kids will only get mobile phones after 12th grade. While I didn't break the tradition exactly, I was allowed to bend it a little. I have a phone, and although it doesn't have a SIM, it has something much more dangerous - INSTAGRAM. I downloaded Instagram solely for the purpose of my blog and to be honest, I received permission to do so in the beginning of 10th grade. I set up an account, chose a profile photo and fixed the basics - only to delete it within the next ten minutes. While most teenagers are more than eager to download Instagram, here I was, scared. And the reason for my fear was not completely irrational; I had heard the countless stories of friends downloading that godforsaken app only to spend NINE HOURS on it everyday.
That's less than the amount of sleep I get in two days.
A crucial part of my identity is being good in studies and I was so afraid that the moment I would download Instagram, I would lose focus and in turn that identity.
But today, here I am, posting regularly on Instagram YET spending less than ONE HOUR on it in an ENTIRE WEEK. How? Here are my secrets, ranked as per their effectiveness :)
1. PARTIALLY DELETE THE APP
Like I said, I've always been afraid of this attention seeker and the one thing I hated more than the app itself was to see that yellowish-pink logo on my phone. So, I started deleting the app. To post my weekly updates, I download the app and then the minute after, I delete it. HOWEVER, I keep it open among the many tabs in my browser. This helps me in two ways:
1. With the help of the browser application, I can check my likes and views and even chat with the accounts I want to;
2. It has been admitted by the creators and even scientifically proven that the colours used to design social media apps are used in such a way that they deliberately CAPTURE THE ATTENTION of the users. Without that colourful application in my face, Instagram is nothing but a tab in Chrome that I can easily choose to ignore.
Even if you don't want to post any content and simply pass some time on the app, you can download it and after you're done, delete it. Some people might argue that this is very cumbersome, but because it is cumbersome, it will work. I mean, who wants to download an app again and again?
2. FOLLOW VERY LIMITED PEOPLE
When I ask people advice on how to increase my followers, they always tell me to start following more people. And while that advice surely works, it is also distracting. The more people I follow, the more notifications I get and it will be more easier for the algorithm to figure out which kind of posts I enjoy. Basically, I will be making Instagram's job easier to addict me. If you look closely at my account, then I only follow three people and all three of them are the type of people I aspire to become. Even Olivia Rodrigo admitted in an interview that because she stopped following any people, her life became much more easier and frankly, happier. Plus, let's admit it, seeing pictures of your friends enjoy and having the time of their lives while you're stuck here balancing redox reactions sucks.
3. STOP LIKING REELS AND POSTS
Once again, the logic is simple. The algorithm of addiction is based on data. That data you give to Instagram in the form of likes and shares. In my two months on Instagram, I've never liked a post. But there is one reel of this baby singing "You are my sunshine" and because I've shared that video 2-3 times, my feed is full of singing babies. The more you stop liking unimportant reels and posts such as those of babies singing and cat memes, the more harder it will be for Instagram to rot your brain and the easier it will be for you to close down the app when it's time instead of constantly procrastinating and getting distracted.
https://youtu.be/GKzsRyDggiM?si=ddgaB74a2gRzxhwE (The singing baby video XD)
4. SHIFT THE POSITION OF THE APP
I tried this method with YouTube, not Instagram, and while it didn't work wonders, it surely helped a bit. All our apps in our phone are at a specific place and over a period of time, we can subconsciously click on this apps without looking or even wanting to. There are so many times when I've wanted to open my camera and clicked on YouTube simply because both are red in colour and my thumb is more used to clicking on YouTube. Once you start shifting your app once a week, you will start to become more conscious. Now, instead of subconsciously clicking Instagram, your brain, on not finding the app in its usual place, will hesitate, wonder if it really needs to open the app before finishing the assignment and then take an informed decision. This method is not 100% foolproof because it mostly depends on your willpower and discipline, but then again, what does not?
Follow me on Instagram, so that I can addict you ;)
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