There are some trends that are exactly that – they come, people get excited about it, share it all over social media and then eventually they just sort of fizzle out. But going analogue… this feels different, and I think that’s because it’s coming from a place of utter fatigue.
The phrase I am seeing bandied about all over the place at the moment is “going analogue for 2026”. With the rise of AI slop, people feeling genuinely overwhelmed with doomscrolling and Australia leading the way with a ban on social media for under 16’s is it any wonder that we are all feeling burnt out from a life constantly online?
I’ve been making huge cutbacks to my own social media presence over the last year, from a purely business point of view I was getting so frustrated with what felt like wasting my time spending days trying to jump on the latest trending reel or sharing my “highlights” on stories for what? A few likes and certainly no difference to my business.
But I was stuck… I’d spend hours on Instagram telling myself I was researching ideas for work but actually, I was doomscrolling cleaning hack videos, recipes that I was never going to actually make and at one point watching videos of the mime at SeaWorld (yes really).
There were big shifts in my business after closing down the subscription boxes and starting ThreadySetGo, but one thing remained glaringly obvious. People wanted to be part of a community, they were craving genuine connection and conversation about things they felt passionate about. And this is becoming even more prevalent as we head into 2026.
I was recently on the Check Your Thread podcast talking about ways to reduce overwhelm which is exactly why everyone is talking about “Going Analogue”. We are all just so overwhelmed and exhausted by the constant noise. Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok are not there to boost your creativity or inspire you, not really. They are designed to hold your attention, to keep you on the app with the aim of selling to you. All those incredible creators sharing inspiring and educational content? It’s gone in less than 24 hours! What a waste.
How often have you opened your phone to check out a sewing pattern hashtag (keeping it sewing related here) and maybe an hour later you’ve disappeared down a rabbit hole of doomscrolling and have ended up loosing your enthusiasm to get to your sewing machine? It leaves you feeling deflated and fatigued. That’s why people are going analogue. To get back to the hobbies that used to calm their brain, to boost them up and bring them joy.
It seems to me that people are fighting back and trying to rewire their brains from constantly watching 10 second videos to wanting something a little more in-depth. We want our attention spans back again! Blogs, podcasts and long form videos on YouTube – I guess 2026 versions of reading newspapers, listening to radio shows or watching your favourite TV program. But more than that people are taking up hobbies again that don’t require them to be online
Now… if you’re here chances are it’s because you sew and the notion of having a hobby is nothing new to you, but perhaps you too have found yourself feeling like you’ve wasted time scrolling when you could have been sewing? Reading? Gardening? Walking? Actual hobbies and activities that can never be bad for our mental health.
So… what have I been doing to reduce that overwhelm and get back to living my life intentionally?
- Reduce and Remove. Any apps on your phone that don’t bring you joy? Delete them. Although I never really used it I had TikTok but every time I opened it, honestly it just made me angry, annoyed and frankly a little confused at what people were sharing. As for Instagram, I still enjoy popping in there every day but I have a time limit set in my phone settings – 15 minutes a day! And to really set that up for success I turned on the code that has to be entered in order to get more time, and only my husband knows that code!
- Buy An Alarm Clock. This one I actually did a couple of years ago, I would go to bed with my phone (because I needed the alarm clock) and settle in for some late night doomscrolling, affecting my sleep quality and stopping me from enjoying a good book! Now I leave my phone charging in the kitchen and purchased an actual alarm clock!
- Reading. I love reading but until recently kept it to bedtime, maybe a weekend morning with a cup of tea in bed. But there are so many pockets of time during the day when I would have picked up my phone that I’ve replaced with reading – whilst eating breakfast, or whilst waiting for pasta to cook for example!
- Enjoying The Company Of Others. Whether that is making intentional time to spend with my family, or friends, joining a book club or running my online sewing socials – being able to hold actual conversations with real people that you can see face-to-face, to laugh with them, share a common passion… these things are invaluable to making us feel connected again.
- Writing. Confession time… there was a brief moment when I had a go at using AI to help me draft out emails. It was quick and convenient sure… but it didn’t sound like me! Which I quickly noticed after receiving other emails from businesses using AI, it all sounded the same. So I’m reviving my blog and putting a little more effort into writing. I’ll get better over time, make my musings a bit more concise perhaps. But reading The Correspondent by Virginia Evans has made me appreciate the value of writing so this, I hope will continue!
Going analogue doesn’t mean living life as if the internet doesn’t exist – that’s just not practical and of course, for all it’s bad bits there are just as many good bits. But it’s about being mindful – getting rid of the things that drain your energy and suck up all your time to be creative, present and in the moment. Keep the bits that you enjoy and make it work for you.
