Unfollow: The New Superpower
Turning FOMO into JOMO by unfollowing
What I mean is… Now I have the Joy of Missing out, instead of the Fear of Missing out.
I unfollowed everyone
A couple years ago, in order to curb my Facebook time, I unfollowed everyone. The point was not to unfriend them. I want to keep that. I didn’t want to piss anyone off. And I knew I would want to use Facebook for personal development and business development.
Active, Not Passive
I did it, I clicked unfollow. Cleaned out my feed. I clicked unfollow on everyone.
It reduced my time on Facebook, after a while. It took a while for my habits to change but they did end up changing.
I ultimately now use Facebook actively instead of passively.
Far From “Happy”
It is not a direct line to “happiness”. Far from it. It took about 2 months before I saw any noticeable change in my mindlessness of opening Facebook.
I made new friends, forgot to unfollow them too. Took a look at what they were doing and ultimately decided not to unfollow every single person. But the overwhelming feeling of missing out… was gone.
I now use Facebook actively…when I want to…Not because of a habit.
Recent + Near
Same with Instagram. I’m not following but a mere few interesting people near me, in Bali, that I’ve met recently. Soon I will unfollow them and follow different people nearer me, once I move. Note: I move a lot.
Again, it didn’t happen overnight. I still check Instagram but infrequently. I check it for messages, not content.
I gained a ton, but what?
Let me tell you some tools first.
Here are some tools to help you curb any over-saturation of Emails, Instagram and Twitter. I bet there’s more for other platforms.
Leave Me Alone — Unsubscribe from emails.
The link above gives me free credits if you sign up, free. If you don’t want to click that link just go to leaveMeAlone.app
Cleaner for IG — Unfollow on Instagram.
Unfollow — unfollow on twitter
Note: It helps to do it all yourself, to press unfollow on each and every person. It’s cathartic.
Here’s what I gained from doing less, seeing less, consuming less.
I read more
I read articles, I read long form blog posts. I analyze. Instead of my time consumed with screen scrolling and friend flipping, I’m reading, and importantly too, re-reading.
I’ve increased my usage of YouTube, but soon will be curbing the subscriptions and notifications of that.
A new superpower
I’m also not scared to try new tools because I’ve developed the habit of unfollowing, deleting apps, stopping notifications. It’s like a new superpower.
It’s made it a better feeling of adapting and adopting. I installed Tik Tok instantly when I heard about it. Heck I was on Musically. Yeah… years ago.
I’m learning
Instead of constantly consuming, I’m picking out what I watch and now mostly I’m watching educational content. I’m picking people who put out regularly amazing work, top creators and more importantly educators.
I spent the past 10 weeks in YC’s Startup School. Watching 2 lectures a week. Devoting an entire hour each week to talk to other founders.
I am in the midst of Legal Eagle’s Copyright Course.
I am nearly through Anthony Gore’s VueJS Developer Course.
Have planned out time to do Lambda Schools’ precourse.
Also recently picked up pen and paper to learn Calligraphy.
Minutes turn into Hours, into Days
The past 5 years I’ve been wrapped up personally in growth hacking social media. Finding those few extra minutes between tasks, life, etc. to actively participate in social media as a creator and a growth hacker. Those few minutes in between things when I could breathe, those minutes turned into hours. And those hours cumulatively have turned into days.
Better person
I’ve freed up that time to now participate in life and become a better person, not a more well-known person.
From time to time recently I’ve thought of going on a week long silent retreat. Maybe, I’ll start this weekend in the mountains of Thailand.
More time in nature
I’m going to spend a bit more time in nature. Not building primitive huts, but rather bathing. Yes, just soaking in the smells and sights of nature. Brush off this digital world and enjoy time away from the computer.
Bye.
See you next week.
