Social Media Breaks Are Good For Our Mental Health

Hey friends! This is not a new topic but is it a common thing? Many of us bitch and moan about certain aspects of social media yet we continuously allow ourselves to be sucked in. The scroll is real my friends. After a two week hiatus from social media, I felt like I should share with you how social media breaks are good for our mental health. First of all, it’s amazing what you can see if you aren’t staring at your phone all the damn time.

Now, maybe you are wondering why I decided to take a break from social media. Well, there were a couple of reasons.

Number 1: I was so over the time suck and constant need to check my phone.I literally found myself checking my social media accounts every time I had an idle second or sometimes even if I didn’t. It was an obvious issue for me and one that kind of had me feeling like I was always busy. It wasn’t productive kind of busy though. 

Number 2: Things were starting to bother me. I didn’t like the way people spoke, shared or commented. It made me feel kind of icky and I questioned why any of it really mattered as it wasn’t about me. What was about me was what I was doing in my real life. Or in this case, what I might have been missing.

Number 3: I am easily overstimulated (I blame part of this on my genetic make-up and the rest on hormones #screwyouperimenopause). All of this outside and quite honestly, unnecessary noise was making me feel stressed.

So I made a little deal with my self. Two weeks without social media. I took Facebook off of my phone and I avoided (successfully) Instagram. Honestly, there were a few times that I wanted to check in but mostly, I didn’t! It was actually a bit liberating to be quite honest. It left more time to be present.

Things I did when I was on a social media detox:

• Walked without distraction
• Blogged more
• Did research on some future job opportunities
• Listened more
• Read more

What I didn’t miss:

• What other people were doing. Who cares? If it’s something I’m really meant to know, I’ll hear about it in real life.
• Negativity. Enough said.
• Sales pitches and constant marketing.

Now don’t get me wrong, social media is a fabulous platform and marketing tool. Especially for influencers but sometimes, I don’t want to be influenced by the latest trends but the mindless scroll happens. You watch the stories, click from one account to another and before you know it, you are totally sucked into the rabbit hole. I don’t need a rabbit hole. My life is crazy enough and sometimes I struggle with finding time for the basics in life.

A few things to do with the time you’d otherwise spend on social media:

• Read
• Brainstorm for future projects
• Do a fun craft
• Go on a walk
• Take a yoga class
• Go on a date with your significant other
• Have a coffee date with a friend
• Create a vision board
• Work on business and personal goals
• Give more hugs IRL (in real life)
• Journal
• Learn a new skill
• Organize a space in your house – may be a junk drawer or closet?

I did a little research on cell phones because you know, there are literally a million articles on technology and how it’s numbing our brains. This was from an article over at Raising Teens Today. “If your teen is like a lot of other teens, they’re spending countless hours at night texting, surfing the net and watching videos long after you’ve gone to bed. Aside from the frustration that your teen never seems to sleep, their cell phone could be a big factor not only in the quality of their sleep due to the emitted blue light from the screen but in their mental health. A study in the Journal of Child Development reports that nighttime usage of cell phones suppresses melatonin, stimulates the brain and can increase the risk of anxiety and depression, and even reduce self-esteem, especially in girls who they found tend to be more vulnerable to the effects of sleep loss.” This absolutely applies to grown-ups as well. I make sure to put my phone in DND (do not disturb) mode every single night. It starts at 9 pm and goes until 8 am.

This article at Forbes discusses how depression may be linked to negative social media experiences. The Independent also shared this excellent article. “Social media has provided a means of constantly giving in to the temptation of instant, easy-access entertainment,” said Dr. Bono.

SimpliLearn shares some statistics on the good, bad and ugly aspects of social media. “One of the effects of social media is encouraging people to form and cherish artificial bonds over actual friendships. The term ‘friend’ as used on social media lacks the intimacy identified with conventional friendships, where people actually know each other, want to talk to each other, have an intimate bond and frequently interact face to face.”

I crept back on to social media on Monday and you guys, I am already kinda over it again. I need to set some boundaries. Maybe allow a few set times throughout the day to scroll and then shut it down again. Weekend breaks also sound mandatory. I am also keeping Facebook off of my phone for now. I am also unfriending + unfollowing anything that doesn’t add joy or meaning to my life. I do enjoy the interactions with many people which is is the thing I missed the most but seeing people who don’t really contribute more than pretty pictures to my life, I don’t know if I need or miss that.

Here are 8 ways you can use less social media in your everyday life:

1. Put your phone away at mealtime.
2. Don’t sleep with your phone in your room.
3. Allow blocks to access social media.
4. Unfollow anything that doesn’t give your joy
5. Create posts ahead of time (batch post) and use a scheduling app to post at designated times.
6. Delete apps that use too much of your time.
7. Shut off notifications.
8. Use Freedom.to to block out certain sites while you are working.

Although I  work hard on content for this blog and like to share my words, I don’t have to do any of it to survive. For now, it’s more of a hobby. I am not paying the bills with my social media presence which also makes me think that these little breaks are extra good for my soul. As a multi-passionate gal with a lot of irons in the fire, I have to keep myself relevant but my sanity is worth more than a few extra followers.

What are your thoughts on social media? Two thumbs up? I’d love to hear your thoughts and what boundaries you set in the world of social media.