Social Media is one of those catch 22’s. It’ great for connecting with friends, businesses or clients. On the other hand, constantly being fed other people’s information, thoughts and highlight reels is just plain exhausting. Sometimes we don’t know the difference between our own thoughts and the opinions of others around us.
I found myself a few days just plain burnt out from social media and decided to take a break for a few days. *Insert loud gasp from all bloggers and social media people*. I took all apps off my phone and never checked in on my laptop. I’ve done this before during teacher trainings and it felt really good. This time I backed off from some work and extra things in my life in conjunction with my social media spring detox.
At first I will admit it’s sort of odd. It’s kind of like you don’t know what to do with your hands or time. Then I realized I could maybe spend some time on other things I actually enjoy. For example, I LOVE baking, but find I never have the time anymore. So my kids and I made banana bread. I actually paid attention to the Netflix I was watching too! I even read some of a book I’ve been working on reading for about 2 months.
The point isn’t what you do, but that you take the break. Social media of all kinds can be bombarding on our stress levels. On my personal blog I wrote a blog post about Self Care and Taking A Simple Bath. In the post I talk about NOT being on our phones, because in reality when you are soaking in the tub and checking Facebook are you actually relaxed? Not usually. We might log on to relax at the end of our day and then scroll to find Aunt so and so or that girl you’ve hated since the 5th grade but still added her as a friend has done YET AGAIN another annoying thing!
Soooooooooo we aren’t really relaxing are we? Comparing our lives to people’s highlight reels. So take a break. Back off for a few days. I promise you wont miss much. I came back to over 120 notifications on Facebook alone after two days and honestly I missed NOTHING. None of it was important! My banana bread however, was ridiculously yummy.
Love,