I just finished the end of my social media break last week and I wanted to do follow up on it. I have never taken a break before for various reasons, but I am so glad I did!!

First of all, I was happy to find that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I’m not joking, I was pretty much expecting to have withdrawals. That may sound dramatic, and maybe it is, but it’s the truth.

The first day was probably the hardest. I realized that the draw to my phone is more of a bad habit than a need for it. I’m so glad I took the apps off my phone because my thumb automatically opened the folder and clicked where the little blue Facebook icon always is. When I realized what I was doing I quickly put my phone back down.

While I didn’t feel a need for it, I did have to think about what else I wanted to do instead. Let’s just say my house stayed pretty tidy throughout the week!

Here’s the discovery I’m ashamed about the most – how much I ran from the stress and frustration at work. I’ve never paid attention before to how early I would gravitate towards Facebook and Instagram on a work day. My excuse was always “it’s just for a couple seconds”. Even though that’s the case, I didn’t realize how much it was breaking up my focus. I found that I did just fine without it. In fact, I found that I was better off without it at work. While you might be thinking “duh”, I honestly thought it was helping me.

Here’s what I discovered during my break

• My house stayed more clean and tidy…for the most part (I do have a 2 year old after all ;) )
• My mind was less cluttered
• I had more conversations with others
• I was more focused
• I didn’t find myself to be as stressed and frustrated while at work
• I didn’t hit the afternoon slump at 3:00 every day (this was probably the most surprising)
• I still needed to be intentional with my time and set boundaries with my phone
• Life still went on

After logging back on to Facebook for the first time after a week, it turns out I did miss some things. There were 2 baby announcements, a few friends had their wedding anniversary, and a friend’s dog passed away. Since only a week had past I was able to easily catch up on everything and it was perfectly acceptable to still comment and react to posts.

I’ve been back to using Facebook and Instagram for a week now and it’s amazing how easy it is to slip back back into some of my old habits. I’m trying to set up boundaries, such as not checking social media first thing in the morning, and limiting my time throughout the day and evening, but I’m finding that to be difficult. It’s all about being intentional.

I definitely plan on taking more breaks. My goal is the first weekend of every month, if not more often than that.

If you have never taken a break from social media, I highly urge you. It felt like a breath of fresh air!

I have been noticing more and more how much time I spend on my phone and it’s been nagging at me. The sad part is I feel like it’s truly becoming an addiction.

I mindlessly pick up my phone at any given second and start scrolling through Instagram and Facebook. It doesn’t matter that I scrolled through less than a minute ago.

If I purposefully leave my phone in my purse for 15 minutes I literally start thinking about it and feel pulled to take it back out. My thoughts and excuses range from I’m bored or stressed, to I need a break, and then to “what if I missed something”? I mean, how sad is that?!

What’s more sad is that I have an adorable little boy who picks up my phone and hands it to me when he sees me without it. This is just not okay.

While I don’t want to get rid of my Facebook and Instagram accounts permanently, I definitely need a good break from them…and my phone in general. One weekend just isn’t going to cut it, so I’m challenging myself to take a full week off from my social media apps.

Here’s my plan. And, yes, it’s taking a full blown plan, otherwise I know it’s not going to happen.

Who:

Just me. I’ve heard of couples who have done this together, but I’m the one with the phone problem, my husband doesn’t have the same issue, thankfully.

What:

As we just discussed – taking a one week break from my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

When:

Saturday, July 13 – Saturday, July 20

Where:

Ummm…everywhere – home, work, and while I’m out and about.

Why:

For the reasons explained above

How:

I’ve put a lot of thought into this so here are the steps I’ve come up with

1 – Identify triggers

Since I tend to pull out my phone at any given moment, identifying the areas that trigger my “need” for my phone helps me come up with a plan on how to combat my impulse to reach for it.

2 – Come up with alternative activities.

Obviously I need to come up something to do instead, especially when I’m bored or stressed. I don’t want to replace one addictive activity on my phone for another, such as playing games. I need to look for other alternatives. My ideas are…

• Pick up a book
• Chat with a friend or visit with someone in the office (aka invest in real friendships)
• Pick up an actual camera
• Simply be in the moment (look around and take it all in – sights, sounds, smells)

3 – Address worry/fears

Ok, this might sounds stupid at first, but what has kept me from taking a break before has boiled down to two reasons: 1 – I might miss important news, 2 – there is a little message when you go to delete the Facebook app that it will delete all its data.

~ A solution to the first worry is to make an announcement on Facebook and/or Instagram that you’re taking a break, so if something big does happen, people know to reach out to you another way.

Honestly, the fact it’s only a week makes it less likely that I’m going to miss something. Even if I do miss something it should be easy enough to catch up.

~ The solution to the second issue was to Google what the message meant. I read that it basically means if you delete the app it will erase any saved passwords and settings you have saved on your phone for that app. So not a big deal. I will make sure that I remember my password and I can always re-set my settings if I need to.

~ Also, if you’re worried about missing reminders for friends birthdays you can always search “Birthdays” in the search bar on Facebook and a list will come up. You can then wish them a happy birthday ahead of time! :)

4 – Delete the apps from my phone.

I know myself way too well, and if I leave the apps on my phone I’m going to “accidentally” click on them, and once I “accidentally” click on them, I’m going to say something like “just this one time”, which will turn into 10. Yeah, no, they’ve got to go.

5. Put my phone away and GO LIVE MY LIFE.

Obviously I still need to use my phone, but I plan on putting it away for much of the week.

While I work, I will keep my phone in my purse that is kept in a drawer. I’ll check for phone calls periodically, mostly because with daycare you just never know. I will open the drawer to take a peek and close it right back up after.

At home I will keep it on the kitchen counter plugged in and the volume turned on so I don’t miss a phone call or text (I don’t get many phone calls or texts, so it’s really not a big deal). If I’m really struggling, I will give it to my husband to hang on to. With the apps completely removed from my device, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.

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Honestly, I’m looking forward to the break. I’m hoping that through this I will find myself more present in the moment and mindful of my surroundings and the people in my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Much Love,

Cami