a tiny change with big impact

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

I recently removed Tiktok from the home screen of my phone, and I’ve been surprised by how much this tiny, seemingly insignificant action has had a big impact on my habits overall. There is the obvious, which is that I spend less time on Tiktok. But it has had a ripple effect on other habits too. Because Tiktok was the only social media platform I really enjoyed, I started spending far less time on social media overall, because Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were just far less interesting. And instead of mindlessly defaulting to opening Tiktok whenever I had a few free minutes, I started opening my Pocket app more often, and going through the queue of longer form articles I had been saving throughout the week to read later.

But perhaps the most surprising change wasn’t really about how my social media usage or screen time changed; it was how my shopping habits changed. Once I removed Tiktok from my home screen, I felt far less impulse to buy stuff.

I realized that so much of the content I was seeing on Tiktok was about products: this kitchen tool/cleaning product/beauty product changed my life! You NEED this organizer! These are the 10 best baby products I would repurchase! Here’s my full skincare routine, everything’s linked on my Amazon storefront!

So much of the content on Tiktok is about convincing you that you need certain products and your life will be better — your home cleaner and more organized, your skin glowier, your meals healthier. You’ll drink more water if you have the fancy water bottle all the influencers have. You’ll start journaling if you get the 5-minute journal that seems to be in every morning routine Tiktok. The whole Tiktok influencer economy is built on making you want to buy things with the promise of an improved life, a better version of yourself.

And listen, no shame, because I am just as guilty of buying stuff I’ve seen on Tiktok as anyone else. But until I quit, I didn’t even realize the degree to which Tiktok was making me want to buy stuff, and then it hit me that most of my Tiktok feed was just videos pushing products, and when I stopped watching Tiktok it was like a giant nonstop feed of advertisements disappeared from my everyday life. Suddenly I had far less urge to buy new things because I was no longer constantly seeing advertisements for new things.

And it feels really nice! I’m surprised to find that I barely even miss Tiktok at all. That tiny change of removing an app from my home screen ended up getting me thinking a lot about how much stuff I buy, and what I can do to consume less. A big impact for something that starte out as only a tiny change.

Good things to read

The dubious rise of impostor syndrome, The New Yorker.

The battle for the soul of Buy Nothing, Wired.

The puzzling gap between how old you are and how old you think you are, The Atlantic.

What we never say about parenting, The Cut.

The end of “Succession” is near, The New Yorker.

What happened to us, New York Times. A truly riveting oral history of early Covid.

Brad Pitt was the only winner of the Aniston-Jolie tabloid battle, Vox.

New Yorkers never came ‘flooding back.’ Why did rents go up so much? Curbed.

Welcoming Cup of Jo’s divorce era, The Cut.

The case for hanging out, Slate.

The tyranny of faux self-care, Culture Study.

The Fleishman effect, The Cut. And related: Life’s losers, Slate.

Good things to cook

Some things I’ve made recently: these crunchy roll bowls continue to be in regular rotation in my household. An easy turmeric coconut curry that you can make with any meat/protein of your choice. Cauliflower rice burrito bowls. Sesame tofu with broccoli. Sheet pan feta with chickpeas and tomatoes.

Also, if you, like me, happen to be cooking for a tiny eater these days, or have to pack lunches for daycare/school, here are some of my strategies and fave recipes. I do some meal prep on Sundays and batch cook a few things that my daughter can eat for breakfast and in her daycare lunch throughout the week. Some recent recipes I’ve been making and my daughter has loved: sweet potato, quinoa, lentil, and spinach veggie burgers, Adeena Sussman’s broccoli cottage cheese fritters, these any veggie “tots,” chicken meatballs, mushroom pasta, ham and cheese sweet potato cups, spinach banana oat muffins. (I’m also constantly looking for new daycare lunch ideas, so if you have recommendations, hit me up!)