Social Media Detox: Taking a Well Needed Instagram Break

I’ve never felt the need for a full social media detox before. In the past, when I’ve found myself mindlessly scrolling, I set my app timer and move the shortcut to somewhere different, so I’m not just clicking on it on autopilot, and this seems to do the trick.

However, this time, it felt very different. I wasn’t just spending lots of time scrolling. For the first time, I was feeling an overwhelming sense of negativity. I was feeling pressure to post, pressure to keep up with people, pressure to be out doing more, pressure to keep in touch with people. I knew I needed to completely deactivate, even if only for a few days.

I’ve had a lot going on recently, and instagram was just one thing too many to think about, and a stressor I could easily remove.

The Positives and Negatives

I have thought about taking a break a few times in the past, but there’s always little things that have stopped me.

Making plans – Instagram is the platform that I communicate with people on most. A lot of the people I spend time with, I know through instagram and that’s where we make plans.

Missing out on opportunities – Coming offline does mean there is a chance of missing out on potential collaborations. I’m very grateful for the opportunities that I get through instagram, but this is one of the things that I’ve been finding pretty overwhelming recently.

Deadlines – The last time I was going to take a break, I couldn’t, as I had a content deadline coming up and things I had to post on certain days. It does usually seem to be the case that deadlines all come at once.

Comparisons – I’ve always been pretty proud of myself for not falling down the trap of comparing myself to others on social media. Yet for some reason recently, I’ve started to feel it creeping it. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m at another turning point and feeling quite vulnerable, but I felt it was best to just cut it off, rather than gives those feelings opportunity to grow.

You can read more about both the positives and negatives I’ve taken from instagram here.

What I’ve Been focusing on Instead

Though I haven’t been spending hours scrolling, I have found that I’m checking my phone a lot for no reason. This makes it very difficult to concentrate on whatever else I’m trying to do, so removing the distraction has meant that I’ve had more time and focus for other things.

Routine – I had completely lost my routine, which has had a knock on effect in lots of areas. This includes both in the morning and evening. I’ve been trying to use my time a bit more wisely and get back to journaling and writing a to do list first thing, and then reading or listening to a podcast before bed.

Reading – My ‘to read’ pile is getting pretty big. I just haven’t made the time for myself to sit down and enjoy a book. I’d started the year reading at least one fiction and one non-fiction a month, but that’s gone out of the window completely. I’ve easily read more in the past few days than I have in the last month, and I’m really hoping I can keep this up. One of my favourite moments this week was sat out the front of the house with a book and a coffee, and being completely present in the moment.

Running – I have managed to make the time to get out running more, which is needed in preparation for my upcoming 15km Trail Race next month. I’m really proud of the progress I’ve been making with my stamina and I’m looking forward to keeping it up.

Work– Though this one hasn’t really been by choice, work has taken up a lot of my time and energy this last week or so. We have been very short staffed, so it’s been a lot of very long shifts, with much needed naps in between all of my splits. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I would have had any time for social media.

The Reality

This post is going live on day 5, which is the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent off social media.

For the first few days, I was still clicking on instagram out of pure habit. But now I am definitely starting to feel a lot more present. It has allowed space for other, more positive and productive things to fill my time. I think there is a high chance I will be taking more regular breaks, or at least not let myself get back into the habit of spending quite so much time on social media.

Unfortunately, I now seem to have come down with the flu, which I think is most likely a product of being run down from working too much. But, next week I’m heading off on a 10 day road trip around Scotland with my best friend, so it’s not all bad!

Have you felt the need for a social media break? What have you found to be the positives and negatives?

Happy adventuring x