My Little Break from Social Media

Last week, I decided to take a break from social media for about a week. It was no big deal, it was something I just decided to do one night to clear my mind for a while. A week later, I thought I’d take the time to write about what this cleanse taught me.

I want to begin this post by saying that I am in no way bashing on social media. I am a huge fan and user of social media, and think that, if used wisely, it can be a great tool to connect with friends and promote a personal brand.

I chose to take this cleanse because I saw how much I was turning to my social media profiles at any time of the day. My life has changed a bit since I’ve returned home for the summer, and I didn’t feel that I was handling these changes in the best way. I felt like my go-to emotional outlet was my phone and my profiles, instead of dealing with my emotions in a healthy and productive way.

There were a just a couple things I noticed during the week that I wanted to share.

The first thing I noticed was how fast my mind went to social media. When I had a thought, I felt the need to think about how or where I could post it. It wasn’t a constant feeling, but it happened more than I’m proud to say. I’ve never thought I was a stereotypical, social media-obsessed college kid, but this cleanse opened my eyes to how dependent I was on social media. It was like I needed a lot of validation on whatever thought or feeling I was, whether it was good or bad. It was like I constantly wanted to be heard, and I knew that I would feel that way on social media, where I could control when and what I said.

It was kind of concerning to feel this way, but I’m glad that I did this cleanse to open my eyes. I learned that a) not every thought I have needs to be shared. Sometimes I can be with my thoughts by myself. I also learned that b) there are other outlets for those thoughts that I want to share. I don’t have to post every thought, I had friends to talk to and journals to write in.

Another thing that struck me this week was how much more time I had. I don’t spend constant time on my phone, but I do enjoy scrolling around on my phone when I am in line waiting for something or I’m avoiding awkward situations. Without social media, there wasn’t a whole lot to do on my phone, so I had to sit and be with my thoughts. It’s really important to be able to be with your thoughts. We don’t need to be constantly preoccupied.

I also just had more time in general. Those five minutes that you spend on your phone every once in a while added up very quickly and I just had a little more time every day. I wasn’t staying up a half hour before bed, glancing at my phone.

I only did this cleanse for a week, but I’ve done this before for Lent. I highly recommend that everyone takes a break from social media every once in a while. I cleared my head and gained some perspective. Social media is an excellent tool, but we must forget that online accounts are just one small part of our very tangible, beautiful lives.

#June2017 #lessonslearned #life