Digital Decluttering 2: Instagram
The step-by-step process I followed to reduce my Instagram screen time
Disclaimer:
I am sharing my personal experience which may or may not be relatable for you. My approach might not be suitable for your needs, but if you are interested in learning about a different perspective, feel free to read on.
“Does it matter if I know what my friends (and acquaintances and strangers) are up to all the time?”
This was the question I asked myself a few years ago. I didn’t really post much on Instagram, but I mainly used it to get updates about other people’s lives. So this question changed my perspective. Because my answer was “no”.
I can find out what my friends are up to when we meet up in real life, and that’s where we are more present anyway. Sure, some posts I saw on Instagram sparked a conversation between me and my long lost friends and reignited our friendship, but the majority of time, it was just a time sink for me — endless consumption with no end goal. I can see what everyone else is doing with their life through Instagram, but I will probably forget most of what I saw after a while. At the end of the day, knowing what everyone else is up to at all times doesn’t add up anything to my life.
Guided by this question, I started gradually reducing my Instagram consumption.
Note:
These were the steps I took which were tailored to my needs and my Instagram usage. I am conscious of my tendencies of scrolling through all the posts and looking at all the stories on my feed every time I open the app. Your needs and purposes for using Instagram might be different from mine, hence these steps might be too extreme for your use case.
Step 1: Remove follower & unfollow
The first thing I did was removing and unfollowing followers who I’m actually not close to. I also unfollowed accounts that did not interest me anymore. This helped in reducing the number of stories and posts present in my feed and reduce my Instagram screen time, related to my tendency of looking through everything in my feed.
Step 2: Mute stories and/or posts
The next thing I did was muting stories and/or posts from people who I still wanted to follow, but who I think posted too frequently or posted things that did not really interest me. Again, works well with my particular tendency.
Step 3: Delete account
At some point, I had a conversation with someone who had just recently deleted their Instagram account. That conversation sparked the idea for me to follow their footsteps and delete my account. Since Instagram allows users to reactivate their account within 30 days of their decision to delete the account, it gave me enough time to decide whether I wanted to continue with my decision to delete my account or not. In those 30 days, I realised that I didn’t feel like missing much, and I actually had more spare time in my hands that I could allocate to my other hobbies, so my account got deleted afterwards.
Where I am now
These days, I still use Instagram through a different account and for a different purpose — following accounts related to spirituality, healing, psychology, astrology, and wholesome bears. I have a much smaller number of following and use Instagram much less frequently compared to the past.
Extra tip: Using Instagram through desktop
A while ago, I had a conversation with someone who said they use Instagram solely through their desktop, so it’s not as accessible as through a phone app. I thought that was a good idea, so I decided to experiment with it. I kept the Instagram app on my phone, but committed to opening it only through my desktop when I wanted to do so. What I’ve come to notice is that I used Instagram much less frequently on my phone due to this commitment.
However, I have found that on particularly overwhelming days, my autopilot is to open Instagram on my phone. What I realised after those occasions was that I didn’t feel good afterwards, since my subconscious motive was to numb my sense of overwhelm.
After realising this tendency, I decided to uninstall Instagram from my phone, so that I would be “forced” to open Instagram through my less accessible desktop when I want to do so. So far, this new approach has helped me in being even more intentional with my Instagram usage.
I might tweak my approach again in the future, but at the moment, this works quite well for me.
September 2025 update
I decided to also delete my other account (the one I referred to under “Where I am now” heading), as I realised that I opened it only when I was bored and/or looking for a distraction. I hadn’t been using it with intention, and so I hadn’t been getting much out of it recently. So at the time of writing this paragraph, I officially have no Instagram accounts. That’s right, it’s the equivalent of living inside a cave in this social media era. I don’t know if I’ll decide to create a new Instagram account in the future, but for now I’ll stay inside my digital cave 🪨
What about you? Are you interested in doing your own version of reducing your Instagram screen time? If so, what kind of approaches might you want to experiment with?