Isn’t it funny how almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes?I don’t think I’ve ever taken a break from social media in the 8 years I’ve been doing this. I love so many elements of social media, but there’s no denying that it can sometimes become a bit all-consuming. It’s been a funny old year having the boys home and off school for six months. I’ve been trying to juggle being the best mom I can be, whilst trying to keep up with life admin and all the house jobs and trying to earn a full-time wage around Adams business hours and the kids. It’s been a complete juggle like it has for most people this year.
And to be honest, I'd been feeling stuck in a constant state of guilt at the moment and feeling almost not quite good enough at any of it. Even though I knew that I was likely just being too hard on myself.
Because social media is my job, I’d found myself feeling consumed with stats, likes, comments and the rest as I desperately try to keep work afloat. I'd been feeling distracted from the boys and torn as half of me said that I should be creating and putting more into this especially as work is quieter and the other half of me had said that I should be enjoying the last few weeks off with the boys.
When I'd create and work, I'd feel guilty. When I'd parent and didn't work, I feel guilty. The balance had been a struggle and the pressure to be online more to attempt to beat the difficult Instagram algorithm was REAL.
It had been consuming my head and was mentally unhealthy and so I did what usually works for most things when they get into a tizz - I unplugged for a while!
And so last week I deleted my social media apps off of my phone for a few days and in that time this is what I realised...- Social media never sleeps and it’s too easy to scroll endlessly, filling our brain with noise that we often don’t really need to fill it with.
- Switching off social media for a few days allows our brains some quiet time which in a fast-paced world is a luxury.
- The quiet time also allows our brains to focus on other things. In my few days break, I noticed how much more productive I was. I picked up my book, I started a new tv series, I wrote a MASSIVE list of YouTube ideas after weeks of thinking I didn’t know what to post. I thought about personal goals and work goals for the future. I got on top of things I’d been meaning to.
- I also realised that we have the power and control over what we see and absorb and how that makes us feel. We don’t have to follow anything or anyone that isn’t adding anything positive to our lives. Toxicity can be simply removed by one press of an unfollow button. It’s so important not to underestimate the energy that is created by the sorts of people we surround ourselves with and who we follow online.
- We are not defined by how many followers we have, how many likes we get or how many brand deals we get chosen for. And neither should our happiness be. It’s so easy to chase the stats, especially so when you do this as your full time income, but not all brands chase the stats, some are far more concerned with your authenticity. I know this because a few years ago I was chosen to go on a VIP trip to Walt Disney World by Disney themselves. My followers and ‘likes’ were no where near what some others had, and when I met them for lunch and asked them why they’d chosen me, they told me that they liked my authenticity, how I came across and my photography.
- It’s vital for our wellbeing to set time away. Mental and physical breaks are important when it comes to everything that we do because too much of anything can be unhealthy. It’s important to set rules for breaks and stick to them. And if you ever do need to delete the apps from your phone for a bit of a recharge and reboot, it really will all still be there when you get back.
