You want to smash your phone against a wall, but also… you need it for work, for your art, for that one recipe you saved three years ago and still haven’t made.

Welcome to the burnout paradox: where tech is both the enemy and the oxygen mask. Where your phone is your escape and your prison. Where you want to unplug but can’t — because the plug is your paycheck, your purpose, your platform.

This post isn’t about going off-grid. It’s about going off-script.

Because you can’t burn down the whole internet. But you can burn the fucking rulebook.

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When Digital Detox Doesn’t Work

You’ve tried it, right? The break. The 24-hour cleanse. The “delete all the apps” phase.

But you came back. Because let’s be real:

• Your job requires online presence
• Your creativity lives in pixels
• Your people are scattered across screens

Digital detoxing doesn’t fix a world built around tech. It just puts a bandage on a bullet wound.

So instead of quitting the feed… Let’s talk about owning it.

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Choose Your Poison — Then Filter It

You’re not getting rid of the screen. But you can decide what it feeds you.

Curate it like your fucking life depends on it — because it kind of does.

Try This:

• Unfollow accounts that make you hate yourself.
• Mute toxic people. Even if they’re your cousin.
• Follow creators who ignite your brain, not numb it.
• Turn the algorithm into a mirror of your values — not your vices.

You can’t outrun the feed, but you can train it.

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Content Isn’t Just What You Consume — It’s What You Contribute

There’s power in the scroll, yes. But there’s more power in the post.

If you’re gonna be online, don’t just sponge up the bullshit. Make something. Say something. Be the interruption.

Your story is rebellion. Your truth is resistance.

And your creations — no matter how weird or messy or quiet — are digital molotov cocktails against a culture that wants you sedated.

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Tech Boundaries Are Self-Respect

Forget perfection. Try consciousness.

• No phones in bed. Let your dreams be yours again.
• Schedule time off like it’s a meeting with God.
• Tell people you don’t check DMs on weekends. And don’t.
• Notice what makes you anxious — then rewire your habits.

Boundaries aren’t walls. They’re doors you get to lock.

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Journal Prompts

• When do I feel most drained online?
• What parts of the internet still feel sacred to me?
• What would a healthy digital life look like for me, not some influencer?

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You Don’t Need to Quit the Internet

You just need to stop letting it write your script.

The goal isn’t disconnection. It’s discernment.

The algorithm is loud. But your gut is louder — if you actually listen to it.

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Burn the Rulebook

The one that says:

• Hustle requires burnout
• Constant posting = success
• If you’re not viral, you’re invisible

Burn it. And write something real instead.

Because you’re not a brand. You’re a fucking human. And you deserve a digital life that doesn’t devour your real one.

Signed, Someone who unfollowed the noise to hear themselves again.

🔥 You’ve made it to the final post of Glitched Out: A 7-Part Rebellion Against Digital Decay —
If you’re ready to use tech without letting it use you, this is your revolution.
→ Previous: The Great Attention Theft
→ Or go back to the beginning: The Scroll That Stole My Mood

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