How many times have I picked up my phone to check a text, only to look up half an hour later and wonder how I ended up watching someone turn an old tire into a fancy coffee table?

I do this all the time. I open Instagram to check one thing, then I see a funny video, click on something else, and before I know it, I’m still sitting there scrolling. Don’t get me wrong, I love sending funny videos to friends and seeing what everyone is up to. But sometimes, I spend way longer on my phone than I meant to. The funny thing is, when I finally put my phone down, I don’t even feel that relaxed. My neck feels stiff, my eyes are tired, and for some reason, I’m thinking about all the things I still need to do. I’ve just spent half an hour sitting on the couch, so why do I feel like I’ve somehow fallen behind?

Wellness seemed a lot more simpler not too long ago. Drink some water, get outside, eat decent food, and try to get enough sleep. That was pretty much it. Now, apparently, you need a giant forty-dollar tumbler to drink your water. Going to bed means mouth tape, magnesium, and a whole bedtime routine. Want to go for a walk? Better get the right sneakers and a watch to track your steps. Honestly, when did all of this get so complicated? Somehow, even the most basic things have turned into another list of stuff we need to buy or things we need to do. Sometimes I just want to drink my water, go for a walk, and call it a day.

Honestly, I think we’re also just tired from being on our phones all day. There’s always something to read, watch, or keep up with, and even when we’re supposed to be relaxing, we’re taking in more information. Sometimes I catch myself scrolling without even realizing how long I’ve been at it. Maybe we could all use a little less screen time and a bit more time just doing our own thing.

The Highlight Reel vs. Real Life

I think one of the biggest problems with social media is how easily we start comparing our everyday lives with the best bits of everyone else’s.

You wake up with your hair looking like a bird’s built a nest in it, spill coffee on your favourite shirt, and open Instagram. What do you see? Sarah from high school sipping a matcha latte on a sunny balcony in Bali, talking about her mindful morning routine. Meanwhile, I’m standing in my kitchen in yesterday’s sweatpants, sniffing the milk carton to see if the milk is still good. LOL.

Of course, her morning looks lovely. But all we’re seeing is the part she chose to share. We don’t see every ordinary moment that makes up the rest of her day. Nobody’s rushing around looking for clean socks or reminding their kids for the fifth time to do something. Well, maybe they are, but that’s probably not making it onto Instagram. It’s easy to forget that when we’re scrolling. We know every little detail of our own lives, including the messy bits, but we’re seeing only selected moments from someone else’s.

Even when I know that, I still catch myself thinking, why doesn’t my life look like that? You scroll past someone’s vacation photos, glowing skin, and what looks like a perfect life, and for a moment, you forget that they have ordinary days and problems, too. Before you know it, you’re sitting there on a regular Tuesday, wondering why your life doesn’t look like someone else’s holiday photos. I’ve done it, too. But really, we’re comparing our everyday lives to a few pretty pictures someone decided to post. No wonder it can leave us feeling like we’re missing out on something.

I find this happens a lot with wellness, too. There’s always someone telling us what we should be eating, drinking, buying, or doing to be healthier. One minute, everyone’s talking about a new supplement. The next, there’s a morning routine we apparently need to follow, a skincare product we should try, or another trend taking over our feeds. Sometimes I feel like we’ve made taking care of ourselves way more complicated than it needs to be. There’s always another product to try or something new we’re told we should be doing. Honestly, it gets tiring trying to keep up with it all.

Somewhere along the way, being healthy turned into an aesthetic competition. Have you noticed how wellness looks these days? Everything is oat milk, white linen, and soft beige, like you’re living inside a home decor catalogue. You need the spotless kitchen, the matching workout sets, and the twenty-dollar smoothie. It’s like taking care of yourself isn’t enough anymore. Apparently, it has to look good on Instagram, too. Imagine finally getting eight hours of sleep and feeling great, but nobody knows because you forgot to post about it.

Meanwhile, real life is a lot less glamorous. Some days, taking care of yourself is drinking water out of a chipped mug, eating frozen peas because you didn’t have time to make anything else, or throwing on an old hoodie and going for a walk around the block. Other days, it means turning off the TV and going to bed instead of watching another episode, even when you’re dying to know what happens next.

None of this is particularly exciting. You’re probably not going to see someone making a reel about eating frozen peas for dinner or going to bed at a reasonable hour. But these ordinary things are often part of looking after ourselves, and you don’t need a spotless kitchen, matching workout clothes, or an expensive blender to do them.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a nice water bottle, trying a new supplement when it’s appropriate, or following a wellness routine that works for you. I enjoy discovering new things, too. The problem is when we start feeling that we need all these extras to be healthy, or that we’re somehow falling behind if we’re not doing what everyone else is doing. Sometimes, I just want to get on with my day without wondering whether there’s another thing I should be adding to my routine.

I actually learned this the hard way with my food account. I eventually walked away from it because it just wasn’t fun anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy putting content together. I like sharing things I’ve tried and places I’ve been. But after a while, it started feeling like work. Every meal out turned into a photo shoot. My food would be sitting there getting cold while I moved glasses around the table, trying to get the lighting right. Meanwhile, my husband and kids are wondering when they could finally start eating.

I’d be thinking about whether I was posting often enough and keeping up, too. Then I’d scroll through Instagram and see so many accounts posting the same restaurants and dishes, and I’d start wondering what the point was. How many photos of the same bowl of pasta did the internet really need? I was spending so much time creating content that I wasn’t always enjoying the experience itself.

Something I used to enjoy had become stressful, and half the time, I wasn’t even enjoying my meal. When I finally stepped back, I realized I could just go out, eat my food while it was still hot, and have an actual conversation without stopping to take photos first. I still share things when I feel like it. If I try something I love and want to tell people about it, I’ll post it. If not, I’ll just enjoy it and move on.

Honestly, it’s a lot more fun that way.

The Numbers Game

I miss when Instagram was just blurry photos of sandwiches with terrible filters and no caption. You posted a picture because you liked it, and that was it. Nobody was worrying about engagement or whether the algorithm was going to show it to anyone. Now it feels like everyone is running a little business through their feed. Even when you post something just because you like it, you can find yourself checking your phone two minutes later to see if anyone has liked it or commented. I’ve caught myself doing that, too. You post a picture, put your phone down, and somehow end up picking it up again five minutes later to see if anyone has noticed.

• 10 minutes in: 3 likes. (Panic sets in).
• 20 minutes in: 12 likes. (Is the algorithm hiding me? Did I pick the wrong hashtag?)
• 1 hour in: You start questioning if your friends actually like you or if you should just delete the post and move to a cabin in the woods.

Come on, we’ve all done it. Don’t tell me you’ve never posted a picture, checked the likes, put your phone down, and then picked it right back up again two minutes later. And for what? To see if those three extra likes came in? It’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it.

Something that used to be fun can start feeling like a test of how much people like us, all based on a number on a screen. Instead of thinking, “Did I enjoy that?” we start wondering, “Will people care if I post this?” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying likes or feeling happy when people respond to something you’ve shared. It’s nice to know that someone enjoyed your content, but when we start letting those numbers influence how we feel about ourselves, or whether a moment was worth sharing in the first place, it can take some of the fun out of it.

Not everything we enjoy needs an audience, and not every moment needs to become a post.

What Else Is It Doing to Us?

It doesn’t just mess with your head, either. It leaks into the rest of your health:

1. Sleep Destruction

Take bringing your phone to bed. You tell yourself you’re just going to scroll for five minutes to unwind, and suddenly it’s 1:30 in the morning. You’re lying there in the dark, watching bad news, random recipe videos, and probably a few things you don’t even remember clicking on. Your eyes are tired, you’re exhausted, but somehow you keep scrolling. Then you wonder why you’re still wide awake.

2. “What Should I Eat?!” (Nutrition Confusion)

Social media can make eating well feel unnecessarily confusing, too. One week, fruit is bad because it has too much sugar. The next, someone is eating nothing but watermelon and claiming it fixed everything. You can’t make this stuff up. Salt is another one. One minute, you’re seeing warnings about eating too much of it. The next, someone is selling you an expensive powder to put in your water.

Of course, nutrition advice isn’t automatically wrong just because it appears online. There are plenty of knowledgeable people sharing helpful information. The problem is that social media often rewards bold claims and simple answers, even when nutrition is much more complicated than that. A food can be helpful for one person and unsuitable for another. A supplement might be useful in certain circumstances but unnecessary for someone else, and a confident video doesn’t necessarily mean the information is backed by good evidence.

When we’re constantly seeing conflicting advice, it’s easy to start questioning what we’re eating and whether we’re doing enough. Sometimes, we end up overthinking our food choices instead of simply learning what a balanced way of eating looks like for us.

3. When Quiet Moments Feel Boring

Have you ever felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, pulled it out, and realized there was nothing there? I’ve done that. We’re so used to checking our phones that sometimes we think we’re getting a notification when we’re not. I’ve also noticed how easy it is to spend an hour jumping from one short video to the next without even realizing how much time has passed.

When there’s always something to watch, read, or respond to, quiet moments can start to feel a little strange. Sitting on the porch with a morning cup of tea without checking your feed? You might find yourself reaching for your phone. Going for a walk without listening to a podcast or recording a story? You might feel the urge to fill the silence. Having a conversation without glancing at a glowing screen? Sometimes, even that takes a bit of effort.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying videos, listening to podcasts, or keeping up with what’s happening online. I enjoy those things, too. But I wonder if we’re sometimes so used to having something to occupy our attention that we forget how to enjoy a quiet moment without reaching for something else.

A walk can just be a walk. A cup of tea can just be a cup of tea. You don’t have to listen to something, learn something, or document the experience every time. Sometimes, it’s nice to let your mind wander a little.

Less Noise, More Living

I’m not going to pretend I’m suddenly spending my days with my phone switched off, reading books and enjoying long walks without a care in the world. I still scroll. I still send funny videos to friends, and I’m sure I’ll continue to spend more time than I intended watching the occasional completely random video. But I have become more aware of how easily something I enjoy can start taking up more of my time and attention than I want it to, and I think that’s where we can start.

Social media has its place. As much as I enjoy it, I just don’t want to spend more time on it than I mean to. I’ve made connections, discovered new places, learned useful things, and kept up with people I might not otherwise hear from very often. I think it’s good to stop and ask ourselves if we’re actually enjoying the time we spend online. Maybe leave your phone outside the bedroom so you’re not scrolling when you should be sleeping. Maybe mute an account that consistently leaves you feeling bad about yourself. Or maybe go for a walk without checking your phone every few minutes.

I also want to enjoy things without feeling the need to photograph them or share them. Have my coffee while it’s still hot. Go out for dinner and enjoy the conversation. Spend an afternoon making something with my hands, even if the finished result never makes it onto Instagram. I’ve realized that I enjoy things differently when I’m not thinking about how to turn them into content. The same goes for wellness. It’s easy to get caught up in all the new routines and trends we see online, but I still come back to the basics: eating regular meals, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, moving my body, and having time to rest.

I’m trying to be more mindful of how much I let social media influence me. Just because everyone seems to be trying a new wellness trend doesn’t mean I need to jump on board, and not every nice moment needs a photo or a post. I still love scrolling through Instagram, and I’m not planning to stop. I just notice how easily I can get caught up in what everyone else is doing and lose track of my own day.

So the next time I pick up my phone to check a text and find myself watching someone turn an old tire into a coffee table, I’ll probably have a little laugh at myself. Then, hopefully, I’ll put my phone down and get on with whatever I meant to be doing in the first place. Although, knowing me, I might watch the rest of the video first.

Your life doesn’t need to be content. It just needs to be lived.