30 Days With No Social Media
On January 13th, I decided to make a New Year Resolution. I am well aware that it was thirteen days after the New Year, but what can I say, I’m a procrastinator. My resolution was quite simple, “Be kind to myself.”
Sounds easy right?
Easy equals boring in my world. So despite my resolution only being four words long, a lot was packed in there. It meant going to sleep before midnight consistently (unless it was the weekend), waking up early, eating healthy food, journaling, exercising, silencing my inner critic, and becoming more productive. Some of those goals were already underway and some began a day later. Some I am still working on. But there was one thing I wanted to do for a long time, one thing that I knew would challenge me and uptick my productivity by a lot, and I was avoiding it.
I needed to quit social media.
And not just for a week or a weekend like I did every now and again, I had to quit for a substantial amount of time. After some thought I landed on 30 days, a whole month away from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat (which I barely use anymore). I did decide for the purposes of publicity for my website and podcast that I would keep LinkedIn because, I do need to network, and let’s face it…who is addicted to LinkedIn?
This break has been a long time coming.
Many times I thought about quitting social media for a little while, and each time I would convince myself it was not necessary. I would say things like: I am doing just fine! I am not addicted to it or anything crazy. I couldn’t imagine going longer than a week without it. Social media isn’t bad for you, you can connect with so many people! Yet each time I convinced myself not to quit, I proved to myself that I needed a break more than ever.
Truth be told, I wasn’t writing as much as I wanted to. My creativity was fraying at the edges and even though I stopped posting pictures as much, I was digesting so many images at a rapid pace. I made assumptions about other people's lives that I had no way of confirming whether the things I thought were true or not. I could hear myself talking to other people and using an instagram post or a tweet as a viable source of information. After turning off my alarm in the morning, the first thing I did was go on twitter or instagram. Most of all, besides laughing every now and again, I wasn’t getting much substance from social media. I didn’t make money off of it, I didn’t have 20k followers , and it was a time vacuum!!
I knew that if I wanted to stay true to my resolution, I needed to revolutionize the way I lived and worked. No more getting distracted from work, because I was watching a video on twitter. No more staying up past midnight, because I lost track of time scrolling through my instagram explore page. No more feeling left out watching old friends hang out, or comparing myself to other women who took twenty photos to look perfect in the one I was looking at. This was it!! If I was going to be kind to myself, well, I had to make some room for myself.
I took one last look at Instagram and Twitter, my favorite (read: addictive) apps and took some preventative measures. My computer isn’t an issue, I never go on social media on there, but my phone was the problem. I took all the apps and slid them to last page of my home screen so they were no longer visible. I went to ScreenTime and blocked all of the apps 24/7. I knew just deleting the apps wouldn’t be enough, I could easily download it and delete it acting as if I never went on. But if I had to put a password in to unlock the apps...I knew my guilt would kick in fast.
Besides needing this break for the new year, I purposely planned this in the midst of an event next week and a trip to the west coast next month. My month break ends when I come back from my trip. Like I said easy equals boring in my world, so the very moments that I know I would want document every moment of, are the moments that I need to stay present.
Perhaps I could take a picture and...not post it right away! I know, it's crazy to think about, but I want a real challenge and I want my time back.
I’m not doing this, just to say I went 30 days and then go right back to the old habits I had. I plan on changing my habits. Limiting myself to social media for only 30 minutes a day when I come back, instead of the 3+ hours I spend on it.
Today is day 5 of the break. Sleep is amazing. I’m starting to see productivity upticks already. I check my email a lot, but I think it’s because I miss notifications. Despite my fingers feeling useless these days, I find myself not missing these apps. Who knew that you only think you are missing out on things when you see them, but if you don’t see them...then there is nothing to miss.
My life is not valid because of all the people who look at my social media, or say I look really pretty in that dress. My life is valid because I see it and the people I love and cherish see it. Isn’t that all we really need?
-A woman who is giving up social media, but still uses her website to release her thoughts! A loophole! Haha! I will tell you how the break went once the 30 days are up! Thanks for reading!
