I started a 7-day no-YouTube experiment. Here’s what happened on Day 3.

I started a personal experiment this week.

7 days without YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram.

Not because I hate social media.
But because I looked back at my week and realized:
I hadn’t built anything meaningful.

I was wasting hours.

Scrolling when I should’ve been shipping.

Avoiding work I chose for myself. And that pissed me off.

So I made a decision:

Time to run an experiment.

The Rules

No YouTube. No Facebook. No Instagram.

Messaging apps? Allowed.
Threads? Allowed.
Email? Allowed.

Even internet use, still allowed. But only with intention.

The goal wasn’t to unplug from the internet.

It was to unplug from escape.

So I built a list of replacements.

Anytime I craved dopamine, I’d pick from this instead:

• Read my bodybuilding eBook

• Journal

• Post + engage on Threads

• Jog in place

• Clean the house

• Brain-dump ideas

• Message 1–1

• Read emails

• Be present with family

I didn’t go monk mode.

I just stopped lying to myself about where my time was going.

What Actually Happened

I’m only three days in, but I’ve felt the shift.

✅ Posted on Threads three days straight
✅ Wrote this email (wouldn’t have happened otherwise)
✅ Journaled with clarity, not chaos
✅ Read actual pages of a book (about bodybuilding)
✅ Helped my son draw “Sprunky” on paper, instead of saying “just a sec, Daddy’s busy scrolling”
✅ Felt present when talking to my wife
✅ Did chores without dreading them

No, I didn’t become a productivity god.

Still haven’t written a daily newsletter like I planned. Still catch myself checking Messenger when I’m stuck.

Still feel resistance when the laptop opens.

But here’s the thing:

I wasn’t fighting against myself the whole day.

I gained the quiet confidence that comes from keeping a promise to yourself.

It’s not a magic pill.

It’s just momentum, finally starting to swing the other way.

The Hardest Moment

The first 24 hours wrecked me.

I kept grabbing my phone without thinking.

No craving. No goal. Just… reflex.

Like my thumb was on autopilot.

That’s when it hit me:

I wasn’t addicted to social media.

I had just trained myself to open it by default.

It became the itch I scratched without realizing.

Every moment of friction, I reached for the scroll.

Every pause, I grabbed my phone.

Not because I wanted to. But because I always did.

It wasn’t about deleting apps (although I did).

It was about reprogramming my first response.

Because if I don’t choose how to spend my time, my habits will choose for me.

The Biggest Surprise

Once I got through the first itch, it was… easy.

No willpower. No heroic discipline.

Not everything was productive. But everything was intentional.

I still caught myself getting lost in messaging apps.

I still didn’t write a newsletter that day, even though I wanted to.

This wasn’t a miracle switch.

But it gave me something I hadn’t felt in a while:

Pride.

I was doing the things I knew mattered.

Not perfectly. Not all at once.

But enough to feel momentum again.

🪓 What I’d Tell Someone Who’s Stuck Scrolling

Stop pretending it’s just “a habit.”

It’s not.

It’s your autopilot response to discomfort.

Like…

• Sitting in front of a blank doc, not knowing what to write

• Waiting in line at the coffee shop, feeling awkward

• Feeling overwhelmed by 6 things on your to-do list, so you choose none

That’s when the itch starts.

You don’t reach for your phone because it’s fun.

You reach for it because it’s familiar.

✅ Closing Thoughts

You don’t need a detox.

You need discipline.

Scroll less. Decide more.

The goal isn’t to delete apps.

The goal is to delete excuses.

When boredom shows up… build.

That’s the game.

And the game doesn’t care how you feel.

It only cares whether or not you showed up.

✅ Closing Thoughts

You don’t need to quit social media forever.

You just need to remember who you’re becoming.

The version of you who leads.
Who builds.
Who knows the value of their time… and treats it like gold.

Every time you ignore the itch to scroll, you say yes to something bigger:

Your business.
Your peace.
Your kid asking you to draw Sprunky, and you actually do it.

And if you can win today?

You can win the week.
You can win the month.
You can build the life.

Let’s go.