Breaking Up With Social Media
Do you ever feel the need to stop what you are doing and take a break? All the time, I’m sure!
However, with everyone living such busy lives it can be an extremely difficult thing to do.
We’ve all got personal, family and work commitments and sometimes it can all be too much. I talk about this in my previous post Time To Take A Break.
However, in this post I want to talk about taking a break from social media.
Now hold on… hear me out…
What would this mean to you?
Not looking at your phone or tablet first thing in the morning or continually throughout the day?
Maybe you could forgo social media for a few hours, days or even a week?
Is this something you’ve ever done or tried to do? Or maybe you just don’t want to.
Think about all the different platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit…. etc. and the amount of time you spend on each of them.
It can be quite exhausting!
You might even throw your hands up and think this question is absolutely ridiculous because that’s not even a possibility in your life.
Not only would you need to be on social media almost 24/7, but your job might even depend on it.
Look, I get it. For a lot of people social media is just a way of life and the thought of not posting or browsing other people’s feeds would be an impossible feat.
Why am I asking you this? Because I recently took a very long hiatus from my social media accounts including the ones I’m posting on right now.
Yep! I felt as though I was basically living off the social media grid.
Why?
Because I started to question why I was on social media in the first place.
Yes, there are so many upsides to social media, but it can also become a distraction, a way of procrastinating and every so often a pure waste of time.
Also, I’m not one for posting just for the sake of it and I really needed a break from all the feeds, posts, photos etc.
I needed a break to decide why I was on social media and what presence I wanted to have.
I realise that taking a break for some people is not even an option, especially from a work perspective. However, if you feel the need to take a break and actually have the ability to do so (without it having a negative impact on your career or life in any way) then I suggest trying it, even for a short time.
Taking a break and stepping back (from anything really) will give you perspective on your choices and actions moving forward. It can help you to think about WHAT you are doing and WHY you are doing it, giving you the ability to assess your actions and observe whether they are still in alignment with your goals and values.
So, what does that mean for me?
I’ve realised that just like a holiday (albeit a long one!) it’s time to get back on social media, but not in the same way as before.
Going forward it’s going to be a more worthwhile experience.
It’s time for me to post all the things I’ve been putting off doing because I had some trouble seeing the why – the reason behind my actions.