Productive lent traditions: seven weeks without Instagram
Lent are the 40 days (excluding Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday. For Christians, they are a reminder of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert after his baptism. Traditionally, you'd give up meat and eggs during that time (hence the tradition to hunt for Easter eggs after lent) - the modern version is to give up something that you feel is holding you back or affecting you negatively. And you don’t need to be Christian to do that.
I’ve been doing “7 weeks without” (inspired by the lutheran initiative “7 Wochen Ohne”) since I can remember - skipping only 2016 (newborn twins) and 2020 (pandemic). My family used to do 7 weeks without chocolate or sweets, and I adapted the practice. This is how it looked like in the past years:
2017: proper fasting - no food before 4pm
2018: 7 weeks without Facebook (which I then deleted in May)
2019: 7 weeks without refined sugar. I learned quite a lot about sugar alternatives, something that came in handy when I added a person with diabetes to my inner circle.
2020: Canceled because of Spanish wide quarantine.
2021: 7 weeks without ordering at Amazon. I actually changed my password without putting it into my password manager, so that I would have to use the password recovery procedure every time I wanted to log in. That was enough friction to pretty much stick to it.
2022: 7 weeks without Instagram
Looking at the current situation in the world, and how I use Instagram to escape, I've decdide to spend 7 weeks without Instagram. After updating my Instagram with a link to this post, I am changing the password without updating my password manager. That means I'd have to do the password recovery dance - giving me enough time to reconsider should I accidentally end up on the site.
Of course my brain went directly into overdrive around why Instagram is absolutely crucial to my happiness and survival (?). How am I going to know how my friends are doing. (Spoiler: I can check in with them via Telegram, Signal, or, GASP, telephone.) How are people going to know I am currently promoting the Remote Leadership Accelerator. (Those who are interested may already be on my mailing list.) What will I do while the kids are on the playground? (A book will do.)
The most important reason for me is this: my brain needs a break from constant overstimulation. Simply reducing my time on Instagram is too difficult at this point in time. It's my brain against a whole department of neuroscientists who are optimizing the UX for maximum "engagement" (a.k.a. adictability). I don't want to waste my brain energy on resisting something that generates marginal happiness. I prefer to forego the temptation entirely and see what else I can come up with.
Expected changes: more books, more messages
For the next 7 weeks I foresee more conversations, turning passive likes into real connection. I might advance with my books (currently reading Catherine the Great by Simon Dixon). I also plan to be more intentional with my activity on Linkedin, sharing what I am working on at Klaus and the Remote Empire.
So - if you aren't signed up for my newsletter, you can do that below. Or you can follow me on LinkedIn. I'll report about the results of this experiment after Easter.