I Quit YouTube, Movies & Scrolling for 3 Weeks
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Three weeks ago, I decided to stop scrolling and stop streaming—which for me meant no Pinterest, no movies, or videos - basically no mindless distractions, as a 6 week experiment.
I’d been feeling a pull to take a break from all that noise for quite a while, but as we got closer to the end of 2025, it felt like it was finally time.
When the idea first popped into my head, there was a part of me that really didn’t want to do the experiment.
I thought it was going to be super uncomfortable, and that I’d be constantly fighting the urge to watch a video or movie, or scroll on Pinterest.
But aside from a few brief moments where I’ve caught myself craving a hit of mindless streaming or scrolling, it’s been surprisingly easy.
On day one, I felt a huge and quite frankly, pretty unexpected shift.
I always saw mindlessly watching movies, videos and scrolling on pinterest as down time, or relaxation, but I realized on the very first day that those habits were pretty severely dysregulating my nervous system.
Right when I took them away, I felt myself settle in a way that I’d never settled before - like never in my whole entire life. And I’ll talk more about the details of that at the end of this six week experiment, but just know, it was a massive shift.
As for the things that I’m ready to talk about, I’ve had a huge uptick in my creativity; any brain fog that I had is 100% gone - my mind is clearer than it’s been in a very long time; my problem solving skills have increased, and my ability to concentrate on difficult tasks has also improved.
I realized the other night, that I feel like I used to feel, in the days before I got my first smart phone, and I didn’t think that would ever be possible again, with how integrated into our lives our technology has become.
And just to be clear, I don’t think there’s any problem with watching a movie, or video, or even going on Pinterest if it’s done consciously, it’s just the habitual, unconscious and nonstop consumption of these things that’s causing the problems.
Although I’ve felt a massive shift in how I feel, in my clarity and creativity, something inside of me is pulling me to go a little further with it - not to torture myself, but I feel like another major shift lays just on the other side of an increase in my challenge.
This weekend - just for the weekend - I’ve decided that I’m also going to eliminate listening to music. It’s been super lovely, and I’m looking forward to getting right back into it on Monday, but I’ve noticed that it’s become a bit of a crutch that I’ve been using to fill in the silence.
And being in silence is the only place we can truly be present with and hear ourselves.
Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.