What Happens After You Put the Phone Down

What I learned about attention after stepping away from social media

A few weeks ago, I decided to take a break from social media.

I deactivated my X account, deleted Instagram and TikTok, but kept Facebook (which I barely use anyway). I did this for a few reasons:

1. I was spending too much time on X, and it was starting to sabotage how I saw the world.
2. I felt uneasy about where social media is heading as algorithms get smarter.
3. Most of all, I wanted my attention back.

TLDR: I thought I knew the cost I was paying for using social media. I didn't.

I already knew that social media hijacks your active attention. That part's obvious.

I’d feel bored or uncomfortable for a moment, then almost without thinking, grab my phone and open X. Then boom. Just like that, I'd get pulled off track.

But here's what I didn't expect:

The scarier part comes after I put the phone down.

My focus doesn’t snap back right away. I’ve taken something in. A dumb argument, a hot take on "vibe coding", or some other insignificant thing. But now that little fragment is bouncing around somewhere in the back of my mind like an old screensaver.

Now, instead of thinking about things that matter to me, my subconscious is chewing on that tweet. Then a few hours later, I’d be in the shower, mentally replying to a stranger online.

Like… what am I even doing?

That’s the real cost: not just the obvious distractions, but the quiet erosion of your inner space.

The part of your mind that should be processing, creating, solving real problems… now spinning its wheels on noise.

And that’s a price worth noticing.

Even if only so you can ask yourself:

Is it really worth it?