The 5D Method to get off of social media.

Decrease, Deactivate, Delete, Downgrade, & Depart

Quitting cold-turkey is tough for most. Instead, decrease your use, deactivate accounts one-by-one, delete (this happens automatically after 30 days of deactivation), downgrade your phone, and finally depart from the digital world. Here’s how to do it:

• Step #1: Make a list of family and friends that are important for you to keep in regular contact with. One by one, let each know that you’re experimenting with a new lifestyle, and that you’ll be moving offline. Ask them to reach you by text or phone instead.  Write down your deepest fears with this process, your ultimate reason for leaving social media, and realistic analog activities.

• Step #2 Decrease: Delete all of the apps from your smartphone, and only access them through the browser on your laptop. If you do not own a laptop then use the browser on your phone. Once you’ve done this for a few weeks, move to deactivation. Unfollow non-essential accounts and turn off non-essential notifications.

• Step #2 Deactivate: Social media apps give you a 30-day deactivation period before your account is deleted. Starting with the app you feel you use the least, deactivate that account. 

• You will naturally spend the time you would have on that app on other apps, so it may not feel like anything is changing. The point however is to reduce the sources of stimulus gradually, and make this as painless as possible. 

• Step #3 Delete: Your accounts will delete automatically at the end of those 30 days so there isn’t anything to do for this part. Spend this time strengthening your connections in the real world. This is crucial because you can’t leave the digital world and call it a day. Take up analog activities and real self-care activities: exercising, calling your relatives, hanging out with friends, reading The Anxious Generation, etc. Take more time to do the things you should already be doing. Live more slowly. 

• Remember, the account is only deactivated for 30 days so if in that period you feel particularly awful without it, you can re-activate and lengthen the process. This is not a race. 

• Refer to your list from Step 1. Set a regular schedule when you’ll give your loved ones a call (or a text, but a call is better) to catch up, and propose a time to hang out in person. Doing this regularly will help you stay connected with the people that matter, and more intimately so. 

• Step #4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you’ve deactivated the last app. 

And finally…

• Step #5 Downgrade: Get a “transition device.” A transition device is a phone that is not a traditional smartphone, but it’s smarter than a dumbphone. There are various, but our favorite is the Cat S22 Flip that runs Android Go exclusively on T-mobile. It’s cheap, very rugged, and allows you to download all the apps you’ll need (Uber, banking, Double Factor Authentication if you’re a student) but it’s clunky and the screen is super small. At this stage you’ve gotten rid of your social media accounts, and now your smartphone won’t be bugging you either. There will likely be times you need to use your smartphone (mobile deposit, scanning a QR code, etc) so keep it shut off in your bag on outings when you may need it. Otherwise your flipphone should be used 95% of the time. If a full on flip phone works for you, go for that. 

• Step #6 Depart: You may be several weeks, a few months, or over a year from the start of your journey. Take this time to reflect on how moving offline has changed your life. At this point you should be feeling like there’s a distance between you and the digital world– a good sign you exist in the real world.