Curate Your Digital Life to Calm Your Mind

A Short Guide to Decluttering Your Digital Life for Less Anxiety

Often times, we obsess over what we put into our bodies—counting macros, watching our sugar intake, going organic—but rarely do we think about what we’re feeding our minds.

This is a rather new concept. We’ve known for a long time that what you eat affects many aspects of your health. (And by the way, we’re continuing to learn how the foods we eat can help or hurt our mental health).

But how many of us are thinking about the content we consume and how that affects our health?

Social media companies have hijacked our brain’s reward system, giving us bite-sized, constant rewards in the form of dopamine that keep us continually scrolling.

And then once we close the social media app, we feel anxious and empty because we’re no longer getting that dopamine drip.

So what’s the solution?

Outside of unplugging completely, there are some ways you can cultivate a smarter digital life that can better support your mental health.

Before we get to those, let’s first do a little audit.

Auditing Your Digital Diet

If you were focused on eating healthier, or counting calories or macros, you would log what you were eating to understand exactly where your calories are coming from and how they make you feel.

I’d like to suggest a similar exercise but geared towards what you are viewing digitally. Here are a few questions to consider and then answer:

• How many hours per day do you consume content and in which form? (i.e. Watching TV/movies, scrolling on social media, surfing the internet, etc.)

• What emotions do you generally feel after interacting with that content?

• What social media accounts make you feel better about yourself?

• What social media accounts make you feel worse?

I’ve done this exercise informally a few times and I’ve realized that most of social media is performance and unhealthy.

I realized I was following influencers and models who made me feel bad about myself. I didn’t look as good. I wasn’t as rich or successful.

I was also following a number of friends and acquaintances that post highly curated content showing off their perfect lives with their perfect families.

I found myself comparing my life to theirs and wondering why I didn’t have that. And it made me feel bad. There was literally no benefit for me to see that stuff.

I’ve taken a huge step back from social media over the last year. I no longer have Twitter (“X”) on my phone because I found it to be a digital cesspool. I stopped using TikTok outside of posting videos myself. And I will only open up Instagram a few times a day.

I feel better the less I use social media, which is a bit counterintuitive. Social media was supposed to bring us together. Instead, I fear it’s only made things worse.

So, take some time and figure out how you’re using social media and how it makes you feel.

Now, it’s time to take some action.

Cleanse Your Feeds (and Protect Your Peace)

After you complete the digital audit, you should have a good idea of what apps and social media accounts need to go.

A few things to do:

1. Delete the apps that don’t provide value or make you feel bad.

2. Unfollow all of the social media accounts that make you feel bad, lead you to make unhealthy comparisons, or cause you to feel constant outrage.

   A good question to ask as you go through the list of accounts you follow: Is this account giving value or taking it away? Meaning, is this account giving me value through things like helpful information, updates, inspiration, or humor? Or is it only taking things from me, like my peace, joy, and calm?

3. Turn off notifications for apps that aren’t important. Notifications are used by the apps to pull you back in. I’ve turned off notifications for most of my apps, including any news apps and most social media apps.

By making these changes, I’ve felt a huge shift in my daily life. I feel more present and in control, instead of sinking into hours of mindless scrolling on the couch and beating myself up afterward.

The last recommendation is to use your phone’s built-in features to limit your screen time and app usage.

Set Boundaries with Screen Time

Both major phone operating systems (iOS/Android) have a way to track and limit screen time.

I would highly suggest setting up Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) on your phone to help you build better habits and break the cycle of mindless scrolling.

There are a few things I suggest setting up:

1. Downtime/Schedule: I would suggest setting up a schedule for your social media apps to limit when you can use them. I have my phone set up to block all social media app usage between the hours of 9pm and 9am.

2. Individual App Usage: I would also suggest limiting your most used social media apps to an hour or two a day. I limit my social media apps (TikTok/IG) to an hour each day and it’s helpful for stopping the endless scrolling I can get sucked into.

These settings aren’t one-size-fits-all. Try different limits and schedules to see what feels right for your life and your goals.

Your Mind Deserves Better

The truth is, your mind is just as important — if not more — than your body.

By curating what you consume digitally, you're choosing to protect your peace and reclaim your power.

The next time you open an app, remember: you're either feeding your anxiety or feeding your growth.

Choose wisely.

What changes have you made to your digital life that helped your mental health? Or what’s one small step you’re planning to take after reading this? Drop a comment below — I’d love to hear your experiences!