Why Its Important To Have Social Media Detox
By Jo Watt
Social media has become such a popular way for us to communicate with each other, share, and find information. It has its positives and negatives. It can be a way for us to share inspiration, connect with each other near and far, make new connections, find likeminded groups, it provides a creative platform for us to share or promote our businesses, and there is endless information at our fingertips. The negative side is it can bring out people’s nasty insecurities, it can increase anxiety, lower our self esteem (when we fall into the comparing our self against others) and has other negative consequences (which I will keep my conspiracy opinions to myself).
| The Comparison Trap
This is one I’ve personally struggled with from time to time, and it’s common for many others to feel this way. What's helped me over the years is to shift my focus back to what I am doing instead of worrying about what others are doing all the time. The thing is, social media acts as a highlight reel that people like to share their experiences with others. The truth is everyone has their own flaws, their own insecurities and everything hidden behind closed doors sometimes no-one knows about, so it’s important to remember that everyone is on their own journey & to be kind to yourself and embrace the good things about yourself. The more confident we become in ourselves, the less we care about comparing ourselves to others.
The best way you can use social media is to connect with friends new & old, inspire others and be inspired and find beauty and joy in the things you find. If someone doesn’t resonate with you simply unfriend or remove yourself from the equation. For your own self care, sometimes its best to just find people who do resonate with you and move on from the people or pages that are negative or drain you. Its nothing personal, its just placing boundaries for your own mental and emotional wellbeing.
| Limit Your Screen Time
With the rise in technology and everything at our fingertips, we have all become so addicted to our screens, forgetting to be mindful and present in the moment and communicate the old fashioned way. It’s important to limit your screen time so it doesn’t affect all the other areas of your life. Make it a boundary with yourself to control how much time you choose to be on social media and not your social media controlling you! At the end of the day if we allow social media to control us by becoming obsessed with notifications and how many likes we have received, this lowers our self confidence and self esteem where we fall into the comparison trap and we base our popularity against our self worth. By spending countless hours on social media, we become less productive and efficient and essentially we become addicted to seeking attention or approval outside of ourselves. This is so damaging if we abuse social media for the wrong reasons.
| Social Media Detox
If you spend countless hours on social media, feel anxious or the feel need to check notifications constantly, feel worse about yourself after scrolling through pictures, your feeling more self centered and you believe everything you see on social media is truth, it’s a good idea to have a social media detox to reset your mind and change your perspective on what’s really important.
Here’s an idea for you to try:
Begin with a few hours of no social media, gradually weaning yourself off it.
Give yourself time to work up to a day, then a week and eventually a month.
Commit to a set amount of time that you won’t look on your account. If you plan on detoxing for longer than a day, temporarily deactivate your account and remove the apps from your phone to remove temptation.
Every time you have the urge to look on social media, get busy doing another form of self care, whether it is listening to music, reading a book or going for a walk. This is replacing the habit with something else that’s more beneficial.
At the end of each day journal what feelings come up, what you did with your free time and reinforce your brain with positive affirmations to reward yourself that its ok to use less social media.
Do this process as long as you want, and as often as you feel you need, if you feel you are slipping back into old habits. Use the time to connect to yourself more deeply and practice other forms of self care.
Be gentle on yourself during this process. Addictions can be hard at times so connect with people in different ways, or enjoy the free time doing something you really love to do. The opposite of addiction is connection, so find connection with yourself again. Your mind, body & soul will love you for it
How often do you spend on social media?
Disclaimer:
Watt Unifies Me does not diagnose, prescribe and treat medical conditions and this blog is sharing information for educational purposes only. Always seek medical advice from a trained and licensed medical professional