Some things one has to be willing to forgo. I grew up before all this crap happened, so i just never let it infiltrate my world too much.

Still, it comes at a cost that increasingly includes Social isolation. Very few give a rats ass about privacy. They're blissfully clueless and don't see the point of doing all the extra work. After all they 'have nothing to hide". (Aren't they adorable?).

Come to grips with the fact most people are both stupid, and sheep. Seek the ones who have some clue of what is going on not just around them, but in the rest of the world.

In my opinion you definitely can't, or need to wait until your strengths for privacy decrease

It's only difficult because you're making it difficult. There is a balance between security and convenience, and you choose where you want to land on that spectrum. If that means Google products are useful to you, then just use them.

Do you need to go back? What exactly are you going back from? Is it not serving your needs? There are plenty of alternatives to Google services; I'd be happy to provide some suggestions, if you'd like, having been through this ever since The Snowden Affair.

I don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I do my best to be as private as possible, but if my work or any other external factor requires me to surrender some data, I will probably end up giving in. And I think that's okay.

Allegory of the cave moment.

And why do you need to go back?

I just do what is easy for me, some things are not worth the hassle of switching to a privacy focused alternative.

For example replacing google drive with Syncthing was really easy for my use cases. Gmail was easy with my own domain and a good email service.

Other things like facebook/reddit, banking, telegram, discord, etc.. I don't worry about it because the hassle factor is extreme.

Make maintainable changes to the services you use and your behavior/habits related to privacy. Go at a gradual pace that won't interupt your daily life.

Worry about things that you can control. You can only do your best. It doesn't have to be perfect. You might not be 100% secure and private, but that doesn't mean you have to make it easy to be tracked.

Start with low hanging fruit and easy changes.

Like switching web browsers; installing adblocking and privacy oriented addons (jShelter is a good one); switching to a more private search engine; setting privacy settings in apps and services; using strong, unique passwords and a password manager; replacing more and more software that you use with FOSS alternatives; use a good VPN.

If you're ready for it, get or build a NAS and self host instead of using cloud-based services. Set up a pihole server for network-level protection from trackers and ads.

It feels like a constant battle. I self host whatever I can and try to keep it simple. Will never be ideal I think. Far too many people and organizations want our data. Just have to take it one day at a time.

Work and networking (people) makes fully ditching Google, Whatsapp, etc. a practical impossibility for me. So I have a laptop, tablet, and phone dedicated to those purposes and nothing else. I check them on a schedule that my colleagues are aware of, at locations I consider safe. Otherwise they are stowed away, out of sight, and out of mind.