We are now three months into 2026, which is baffling when you say it out loud, considering it only feels as if Christmas was last week. Throughout this year, I have been doing what I like to refer to as a ‘digital detox’, which I hope becomes a permanent change in my life. At the back end of 2025, I started to become incredibly worn down and demotivated due to constantly being on social media all day. It wasn’t just that everything I was seeing was doom and gloom; the information overload was genuinely giving me headaches.
Having used social media only to keep up to date with specific pop culture accounts and to message friends, I have felt far more alive this year, no longer wasting my time focusing on interpersonal conflicts between individuals I have no connection to or becoming cynical from all the rage bait that dominates these platforms. Instead, I have gone for walks and made an effort to spend time reading physical books rather than staring at a screen all day.
I don’t want to make social media sound like the worst invention of all time. In fact, it can be a source of good when used appropriately, but there is far too much division going on in the world, and platforms like these only amplify it for the purpose of getting people to interact with posts.
If you are someone who has found yourself feeling isolated as of late, put down your devices and see the beauty in the world — of which there are unfathomable amounts. I guarantee you will begin to reclaim energy that has been redirected away from you.