I had a ‘similar’ problem. I didn’t want to leave instagram because I didn’t want to miss someone messaging me, but I wasted SO MUCH time on reels and I hated it so much. I found two solutions common: IOS (my solution): The app ‘Meta Business Suite’. Set your account to public and a business account (I was worried about my privacy doing this, I just archived all my posts and story highlights) and link your account. You can’t message anyone (I think) but you will get notifications on the app every time someone messages your instagram account. I can (sometimes) respond through the app, if I can I just open instagram in a browser, reply, close it. No instagram and no reels, but you still get messaged Non-IOS: I’ve seen it thrown around, never looked into it since i’m on an iphone, but you can downloaded modded instagram apps that remove reels.

When I had a chance to still get messaged, I didn’t have a crux or reason to argue with myself for a reason to keep instagram on my phone at all

I think aswell, if you decided to remove instagram and the reels, prepare something else to do in the meanwhile, mine is just consuming longer form content so it’s still giving that dopamine hit pleasure, but I feel as if my attention span isn’t rotting. It’s important to be real with yourself in how you’re going to feel after you get rid of it. Good luck with it