Wednesday, 1st January 2025
It’s taking a fair bit of intention & actions that go into setting up this “offline life”. Yesterday, I did some housekeeping on my Instagram profile:
- Created & shared a post about going offline (with screenshots of my introductory blog)
- Created & shared a post about how to contact me outside of Instagram.
This one was very satisfying to create because I could see the systems that I have in place, as well as the gaps that need to be filled. Eg. I had never added a “contact” option on website because I felt that responding to DMs on social media was much easier than the random queries I’d receive via my website. Now, with social media out of the picture, I will streamline it to getting work/mentorship queries through Topmate. - I archived any posts which were just personal-life photo dumps, because of some latent anxiety about a fake profile being created or photos being misused otherwise. I know it’s unavoidable in the larger scheme of things, but small acts like this add to a lot of peace of mind. And just because I’m doing a challenge like this doesn’t mean I have to unnecessarily make it harder for myself.
In a small way, going offline from social media is a low-key version of the Vipassana experience, where I went “offline” from everything & everyone else. There’s always a bit of anxiety about “what will happen behind my back?” But my hope is that shutting out those voices might allow me to see more clearly that which is happening right in front of me.
Thursday, 2nd January 2025
Inner Critic: “So, what’s the big deal about going off Instagram? There are a lot of people who don’t use it these days. It’s easy.”
I’ll tell you 5 things that are actually easy for me:
- Planning my day and actually sticking to the plan
- Creating personal projects
- Interacting with clients
- Not smoking and drinking
- Not checking Twitter or LinkedIn
Eliminating Instagram from my day-to-day life hasn’t been easy for me, the way some of the above things might not be easy for you.
I’d find myself starting and ending my day on the platform, having subconsciously accepted it as “the thing to do” before dozing off to sleep. I can’t forget the gazillion-times-a-day that I’d open the app for a “quick hit”. It’s like being constantly drugged – in micro doses throughout the day, and then one biiiiiig dose at night to call it a day. (I’d limited by activity by using app timers, but the impact is still undeniable and the timers are easy to over-ride).
In that sense, going off Instagram is a detox for me. And it’s a big deal for me only because it doesn’t come naturally to me.
Observation Log:
I wanted to open Instagram when: Friends came over and we took pictures – felt like sharing them on stories
What I did instead: Nothing lol. I'll try to organise photos on my phone instead, to look back at.
Did things work out?: Yes ✅I needed to open Instagram when: I was trying to find out if a cafe nearby is doing their weekly creative gathering tomorrow (since it's new years week and some places are shut)
What I did instead: Asked Shobhit to DM them on Instagram to find out :D
Did things work out?: Yes ✅I needed to open IG when: I had to contact The Booktique (lending library in Goa) about borrowing a particular book
What I did instead: Asked people on our Reading Social's WhatsApp group, and got the direct contact number of the library founder.
Did things work out?: Yes ✅
Friday, 3rd January 2025
I had to say no to a really fun workshop-opportunity because the venue needed me to do my own publicity and ensure a decent turnout. I love this venue, I’d originally pitched the idea to them myself & I would have absolutely loved to take on the marketing-challenge too. I considered shifting my Social Media Sabbatical’s start date to 15th Jan, to accommodate “just this one event”.
But while speaking to a friend, I figured that it’s all too easy to keep pushing things for “just this once”.
That’s also the point of this experiment – to take a long hard look at what’s working & what’s not. So here’s an observation log of the first thing that really didn’t work out because I wasn’t going to use Instagram.
I needed to open IG: to promote my workshop & gather an audience for it
What I did: Had to go back on the discussion so far and say "no" to the venue
Did things work out?: Not in the moment ❌ I guess I could’ve taken on the challenge of marketing this workshop through WhatsApp groups and direct contacts. But because the venue confirmed & double-confirmed that I’ll be putting ALL my efforts into marketing, I knew that won’t be doing it justice. Definitely don’t want to half-ass things when someone else is involved.
This makes me wonder if I could host a workshop without any venue commitment? What would that look like?
In other news – I signed up for my first 10K last night and I have 7 weeks to train for it. Normally, I’d be sharing my training updates on stories and everyone would know I’m training!! In life’s current private-mode, I get to share the day-to-day highs with my training partner aka my husband.
Sunday, 5th January 2025
“How are you using your time without social media?” Aishwarya asked this morning. And for a minute, it made me think: what am I really doing with the approximately 2 hours a day I’ve gained?
Truth be told: I have been doing the same life things that I would otherwise do. Just that I’m doing them uninterrupted now. If I’m listening to music in the car, I’m not also watching a reel in between. If I’m sitting at a beach for a while, I am not opening Instagram just out of habit. When I’m in the elevator, I’m just in the elevator – not also checking for new likes. Most importantly, if I’m in an awkward or emotionally difficult situation (like I was yesterday), I can’t take a break from facing/processing it by just diving deep into the busy thoughts & opinions of others, which will help me forget mine. So I need new coping mechanisms too.
My life was already full. And it still is full.
It’s just probably been a bit uninterrupted over the last days.
I needed to open IG: to share pictures of our beach & cafe outing on stories – I love looking back at my own stories for 24 hours to continue savouring the experience even after it's passed.
What I did: Just looked at the photos on my phone instead.
Did things work out?: Yes ✅I have a feeling I might start looking at my photo gallery more often, and the productive itch in my brain hopes that I’ll get onto the long-pending task of culling & organising it into albums too.
Cyber safety anxiety still kicks in sometimes & I’m still opening Instagram on my desktop browser once every couple of days, just to check for abnormal activity. Eg. A spammy profile started following me yesterday and today I blocked them. Spent probably 30 seconds on IG with this maintenance work and logged off immediately – almost feeling like a trespasser.
Monday, 6th January 2025
I’m SO curious about what some of my clients are sharing on Instagram. Keeping up with the online activity on their professional pages (they all have studios or shops) creates some additional context to our consulting calls. Even though it’s not mandatory for me to be aware of it, I feel it adds an extra layer of awareness and I like being informed. I hadn’t considered this aspect, so let’s see how it goes.
Week 1 Recap
Impact on Experiences:
I have no clue on what I’m missing out, so I wouldn’t know. But I think my life has been pretty “full” & I haven’t felt the need to find “more to do/experience”. I also noticed that there’s enough information about events and workshops around me on WhatsApp groups – incase I wanted to attend something. It’s also a note for myself to leverage WhatsApp communities to share more about my work.
Impact on Opportunities:
I would have had fun doing that one workshop I had to say ‘no’ to. But I haven’t lost anything monetarily (because my opportunity cost is much higher than what I earn at workshops). I can do more workshops later.
Impact on Friendships:
Specially because it’s the new year week, I’ve met a lot of friends in person and had catch-up conversations with many, many more. I do think that I made a personal effort to text people that came to mind, because I knew that the “organic” chats via story-responses on IG won’t happen.
nishita mohta 
One response to “Week 1: Easing into my offline life & an opportunity lost”
[…] for my best friend’s birthday. They are now more aligned to grown-up aesthetics – like these new year cards I made for friends this January. Over the years, I’ve made one-off pieces paintings, and […]
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