How to Successfully Delete Social Media | Dr. Cal Newport & Dr. Andrew Huberman

Summary

In this insightful podcast excerpt, the team discusses the impact of social media on productivity and creativity. After an experiment where they removed social media from their phones, they found the transition back to be challenging, highlighting the brain's adaptability to both absence and presence of digital distractions. The conversation delves into how social media can mask unmet potential and interests, leading to a void in life. The key takeaway is the importance of finding meaningful alternatives to social media to fulfill our innate needs for connection and creativity, suggesting that a 'deep life' built on meaningful experiences can offer a more fulfilling alternative to the superficial engagement of digital platforms.

Takeaways

• 📱 The experiment: Rob Mohr, a producer and friend, encouraged the team to remove social media from their phones except for one person who would post weekly episode announcements.
• 😖 Initial struggle: The absence of social media was initially challenging for the team, highlighting the friction involved in leaving behind a habitual activity.
• 🔄 Friction revisited: Returning to social media after the break was also difficult, indicating that the brain adapts to the absence and presence of distractions.
• 🧠 Brain adaptation: The discussion suggests that the human brain can quickly adapt to changes, whether leaving behind or returning to a habit like social media.
• 🎯 Productivity and focus: The script raises the issue of productivity and burnout, suggesting that social media might be a distraction from work that requires focus.
• 🌐 Social media as a void filler: It is suggested that people use social media to fill a void in their lives, possibly due to unmet potential or interests.
• 🔍 Newportian perspective: The script introduces the idea of 'Cal Newportian lens', implying that people may have untapped creativity and resources due to their focus on social media.
• 🚫 The void revealed: Removing social media exposes the void in people's lives, which can be difficult to face without the distractions it provides.
• ⏱️ 30-day social media hiatus: The speaker conducted an experiment with 1,600 people who turned off all social media for 30 days, revealing insights into the impact of such a break.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Success through alternatives: Those who succeeded in the 30-day experiment aggressively pursued alternatives to social media, such as new hobbies and structured daily routines.
• 📚 Rediscovering libraries: The experiment participants found joy in activities like visiting libraries, which provided free access to books and a sense of discovery.
• 🤝 Strengthening social bonds: The script emphasizes the importance of real-life social interactions, such as meeting friends and engaging in group activities.
• 🛠️ Building a 'deep life': The speaker discusses the concept of building a meaningful life, which involves more than just avoiding technology but also rebuilding life's meaningful aspects.
• 🎙️ The role of the podcast: The speaker's podcast, aimed at those dissatisfied with the digital world, discusses the importance of creating a meaningful, focused, and 'deep' life.

Q & A

What was the initial challenge faced by the podcast team in Australia?

The initial challenge faced by the podcast team in Australia was to get rid of social media on their phones, except for one person who would post weekly episodes announcements.

What was Rob Mohr's role in the social media experiment?

Rob Mohr, the producer and close friend of the speaker, instructed the team to remove social media from their phones as part of an experiment.

How did the speaker describe the experience of returning to social media after the experiment?

The speaker described the experience of returning to social media as more challenging than initially expected, highlighting the friction of re-adapting to it.

What does the speaker suggest about the brain's ability to adapt to changes in social media usage?

The speaker suggests that the brain can adapt to both the friction of leaving social media and the friction of returning to it, indicating a significant level of adaptability.

What is the 'Cal Newportian lens' mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to the discussion?

The 'Cal Newportian lens' refers to the perspective of Cal Newport, an author who advocates for deep work and focus. It is used here to suggest that people might have untapped creativity and resources because they are using their energy on social media.

What does the speaker mean by 'papering over the void' in the context of social media usage?

The phrase 'papering over the void' refers to using social media as a temporary solution to fill the emptiness caused by unmet potential, interests, and misalignment with one's values.

What was the speaker's experiment involving 1,600 people and social media?

The speaker conducted an experiment where 1,600 people turned off all their social media for 30 days. The goal was to observe their reactions and experiences during this period.

What was the key difference between those who succeeded and those who failed in the 30-day social media experiment?

The key difference was that those who succeeded aggressively pursued alternatives to social media, such as learning new hobbies and structuring their day, while those who failed tried to 'white knuckle it' without finding substitutes.

How did the speaker's experiment participants describe their initial experience without social media?

Participants described the initial experience without social media as really hard, indicating a significant adjustment period.

What does the speaker conclude about the role of social media in fulfilling human needs?

The speaker concludes that social media provides a 'simulacrum' of meeting human needs, such as connection and creation, but it is not truly fulfilling these needs.

What is the concept of the 'deep life' mentioned by the speaker, and how does it relate to the discussion on social media?

The 'deep life' refers to building a meaningful life, which is a central topic on the speaker's podcast. It contrasts with the superficial engagement of social media and suggests that focusing on meaningful activities can help avoid the 'void' that social media only temporarily fills.

What advice does the speaker give for those who want to reduce their reliance on social media?

The speaker advises to aggressively pursue positive alternatives to social media, such as engaging in new hobbies, joining groups, exercising, and rediscovering the joy of activities like reading from libraries.

Outlines

00:00

📱 The Struggle of Social Media Detox and Adaptation

The speaker discusses a social media detox experiment conducted with their podcast team in Australia. Initially, it was challenging to be cut off from social media, but the real struggle was reintegrating into it after the break. The speaker suggests that the brain adapts to both the absence and presence of social media friction, highlighting the impact on productivity and creativity. They argue that many people use social media as a distraction from their unmet potential and interests, and that by eliminating social media, one can uncover and tap into this untapped creativity. The speaker also shares insights from an experiment with 1,600 people who turned off social media for 30 days, emphasizing that those who aggressively pursued positive alternatives were more successful in maintaining their break from social media.

05:01

🧘‍♂️ Embracing the Deep Life Beyond Digital Distractions

The speaker introduces the concept of 'the deep life,' which is about building a meaningful and focused life in a world filled with digital distractions. They express surprise that their podcast, typically centered on technology, often discusses this topic, but rationalize it by noting that their audience is often seeking alternatives to the digital world. The speaker suggests that without a fulfilling analog life, people may turn to the digital world to avoid confronting the void in their lives. They conclude by inviting listeners to explore the full-length episode for a deeper dive into finding focus and building a meaningful life.

Keywords

💡Social Media

Social media refers to digital platforms that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. In the context of the video, it is portrayed as a potential source of distraction and a tool that can be used to fill a void in one's life. The script discusses the experiment of going without social media for 30 days and the challenges faced when returning to it, highlighting the friction and adaptation the brain experiences.

💡Productivity

Productivity is the efficiency of an individual or system in converting inputs into useful outputs. The video script mentions issues with productivity, suggesting that social media might be a factor hindering people's ability to focus and be productive in their work or projects. It implies that by reducing social media use, individuals might uncover untapped creativity and resources.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic stress that leads to emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. The script implies that social media might contribute to burnout by distracting individuals from engaging in more meaningful activities. It suggests that addressing the root causes of burnout, such as unmet interests and potential, could be more beneficial than using social media as a temporary fix.

💡Friction

In the script, friction is used metaphorically to describe the resistance or difficulty experienced when changing a habit or behavior, such as leaving social media. It is highlighted as a significant factor in the adaptation process, both when leaving and returning to social media, indicating the psychological impact of such changes on the brain.

💡Untapped Creativity

Untapped creativity refers to the potential for original thought and imaginative ideas that an individual has not yet explored or utilized. The video suggests that by diverting attention to social media, people might be neglecting their creative potential. The idea is that focusing on more meaningful activities could lead to the discovery and development of this creativity.

💡Void

The term 'void' in the script represents a sense of emptiness or lack of fulfillment in one's life. It is suggested that people use social media to cover up this void, as a way to make their lives feel more complete or bearable. The discussion around the void emphasizes the need to address underlying issues rather than relying on social media as a superficial solution.

💡Experiment

The script describes an experiment where participants turned off all social media for 30 days. This experiment aimed to understand the impact of social media on individuals' lives and their ability to cope without it. The results of the experiment provided insights into the difficulty of the initial phase and the strategies that helped some succeed in abstaining from social media.

💡Alternatives

Alternatives in this context refer to other activities or interests that can replace social media use. The script emphasizes the importance of pursuing alternatives to fill the void left by social media, such as learning new hobbies, joining clubs, or engaging in structured daily activities. These alternatives are presented as more positive and fulfilling ways to meet unmet needs.

💡Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is the process of introspection and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In the video, self-reflection is mentioned as a key strategy for those who successfully abstained from social media for 30 days. It involves identifying and addressing the underlying needs that social media was fulfilling in a superficial way.

💡Deep Life

The concept of a 'deep life' in the script refers to building a meaningful and fulfilling life that goes beyond the distractions of the digital world. It is presented as an antidote to the superficial connections and instant gratification offered by social media. The deep life involves engaging in activities that foster personal growth, meaningful relationships, and real-world accomplishments.

Highlights

The experience of removing social media from phones and the subsequent challenges of returning to it.

The brain's ability to adapt to the friction of leaving or returning to social media.

The suggestion that people use social media to fill a void in their life due to unmet potential or interests.

The idea that social media provides a superficial enrichment that masks deeper issues.

The experiment conducted with 1,600 people turning off all social media for 30 days.

The observation that people who aggressively pursued alternatives were more successful in abstaining from social media.

The importance of self-reflection and experimentation in finding positive alternatives to social media.

The realization that social media can provide a false sense of meeting unmet needs.

The strategy of filling the void with meaningful activities and connections instead of social media.

The concept of the 'deep life' which focuses on building a meaningful life away from digital distractions.

The role of the podcast in discussing the importance of an analog life to avoid the digital void.

The challenge of staring into the void when the distractions of the digital world are removed.

The necessity of rebuilding parts of one's life to create a meaningful existence without reliance on technology.

The notion that the digital world is just good enough to keep life tolerable, which can be a problem.

The encouragement for listeners to explore the full-length episode for more insights.

Transcripts

Recently, my podcast team was in Australia

and my producer and close friend here, Rob Mohr,

instructed all of us

to get rid of social media on our phones,

except one guy who would post

our weekly episodes announcements.

And it was pretty brutal at first.

And then coming back to social media

has actually turned out to be more challenging.

Huh.

And you really experienced

the friction coming back the other way.

And then one experiences the lack of friction,

and that's where it gets scary.

It's so interesting the way that the brain can adapt,

the friction leaving something behind,

the friction coming back to it.

And I think for people listening to this,

I raise this because, I think, of course,

many people listening are, you know,

have work that they really need to focus on.

They may be having issues with productivity

and burnout, et cetera.

I think a lot of people use the phone and social media

because it fills their life, you know?

It provides some enrichment

and they aren't necessarily committed to specific projects.

But I guess through the lens of the,

let's just call it the Cal Newportian lens,

one might argue that those people almost certainly

have untapped creativity, untapped resources within them

that they don't yet know about

because they're essentially using that energy elsewhere.

Yeah, I mean, I think for a lot of people,

it's papering over the void, right?

You have this void in your life

because there's unmet potential, unmet interest,

living in misalignment

with the things you care about, right?

I mean, a lot of people, this is the classic sort

of catastrophe of life, right?

Social media, and before this, it was other things, right,

there was other intoxicants or other sorts of distractions.

It's a way for some people of, essentially,

putting a screen over that like gaping void.

And it like, just makes it bearable enough

that you can kind of go on with life.

And so it is true, if you just rip it out, you see the void.

And that's really difficult, right?

I mean, 'cause I did this experiment for one of my books.

I ran an experiment with 1,600 people

and they all turned off all their social media for 30 days.

30 days. 30 days, right?

These are young people, old people?

A whole mix, a whole mix, right?

So not just university students.

I recruited them from my newsletter readership,

so they weren't university students.

And it wasn't formal research, it was, you know,

I put out the call, right?

So this is not randomly sampled, right?

But I put out the call and I said,

"Here, I'm going to walk you through this."

And then I got a lot of information back.

So people reported back how it went.

And this was like, the number one thing I heard was,

it's really hard at first, right?

And so, who are the people that succeeded

for 30 days versus those who didn't?

The ones who didn't succeed,

tended to just try to white knuckle it,

just be like, "I don't like how much I'm using social media,

I'm just going to stop because it's bad

and I don't want to do a bad thing.

I'm just going to like, you know,

hold onto the table with white knuckles."

They wouldn't make it 30 days.

The people who did succeed followed my advice

to incredibly, aggressively pursue alternatives

in those 30 days.

So it's like, go learn new hobbies, join things right away,

get like really structured about your day,

get into exercise again, learn how to knit again.

A lot of people said,

"Oh, I forgot how fun libraries were.

Like, you can go into this building and like,

all the books are free and you could just grab whatever.

And it's okay if you don't like the book

because you didn't have to pay for it.

I'm going out with friends again.

Okay, every week I'm going to have, you know,

we're going to have drinks with this person

and every Thursday morning I'm

going to go running with this person."

The people who aggressively tried

to put in place a more positive alternative

through self-reflection experimentation,

they lasted the 30 days and beyond, right?

And so then I came to realize like, oh,

I see what's happening here is you have these unmet needs.

These tools can give you sort of

a simulacrum of meeting them.

I'm a social being, I need to be connected to people.

Well, I'm texting and like doing comments on social media,

it sort of touches that a little bit,

just enough that you don't feel hopelessly lonely,

but it's not really fulfilling that.

I have a need to, like,

see my intentions made manifest concretely in the world,

humans want to do this.

Well, I'm, you know, posting these things

and people are responding,

it's sort of this simulacrum of real creation.

So it's like kind of satisfying that just enough

that it's not just intolerable, right?

And so what happens is if you remove that,

you have to actually fill those things the right way.

So now I'm not socializing on social media,

but I'm going out of my way to sacrifice time

and attention on behalf of other people.

I'm feeling the social void in the right way,

now I don't really feel like I need to go back.

I'm actually making my intentions manifest,

I'm learning skills and building things.

Now this sort of pseudo construction

and collective attention economy of social media,

I'll post this and you'll like it, I don't like this,

I don't need that anymore to fill that void.

So it's like you have to fill the void first.

So, you know, five years ago I wrote a book,

it was about reforming this part of your life.

And a lot of the book had nothing to do with technology,

but about how to actually just rebuild parts of your life.

And on my podcast, honestly, like one

of the big topics we talk about,

which is crazy that I'm a technologist and I write

about trying to find focus in a distracted world,

is this thing we call the deep life,

which is just straight up building a meaningful life 101.

And it's like crazy that my podcast is talking about it,

but on the other hand, it's not,

because mine is the podcast people go to

when they're fed up with the digital world.

And it turns out if you don't get

the analog world working right for you,

you need something to avoid staring to that void,

and the digital world will do that well enough.

It's like just good enough to keep life tolerable.

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