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What would you do with an surplus two and a half hours each twenty-four hour period ? That ’s quite a lot of prison term !
mean about it for a moment . Would you exercise out , call your mamma , read , take a nap , crocheting … Ok , so that ’s my lean but what ’s yours ?
Well , hoi polloi drop an norm of 2 time of day and 23 second on social media every day ( source ) . And even if you ’re well below average , we ’re still talking about a decent clod of fourth dimension that could probably be used on other activity .
My friend Erin who blog over atThe Tannehill Homesteadjust did a full social medium detox to fall apart her social media substance abuse and I was exceedingly curious to involve her all about it . I ’m so emotional to have her on the web log today to share all about her social media detox . It might prompt you to do one too !
Hey Erin! Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi ! I ’m Erin Tannehill . I ’ve been married to a very ambitious man for 9 years , momma to two wiener , Chevy and Harley , as well as a small slew of chickens , and most recently became a full - time online entrepreneur .
I instruct cleaning woman [ and some men ] how to live their good life by removing jumble , decluttering their mind , and endure with intent . I ’ve design my ambition sprightliness and my goal is to instruct other people how to do the same .
What made you want to give up social media for a month? Is this your first time doing a social media detox?
I seek to do a social medium detox once a year for a minimum of two weeks . This leave me to readjust my mind and focus on what is in truth important in my life – menage and friends , my business , but most significantly , living in the present .
My most late social medium detox was due to having a constant feeling of overwhelm and never let enough clip to do the things on my action leaning . I was consistently picking up my phone to check what was go on on Instagram , comparing my stress of being on social media to those who enjoy being on social medium , and just fed up with it all .
I was honestly to the point of wanting to blue-pencil my Instagram and Facebook accounts altogether . I knew get a step back would be the only way to readjust my thoughts about social media and off the overpowering pressure level I put on myself .
Why did you choose to give up just social media and not all screen time?
I have an on-line business , so giving up all screen meter is n’t an choice presently . However , I have set up up boundaries to keep me from work until 9 pm at night .
What kinds of rules did you set for yourself or things did you do to make sure you stuck with it?
My independent linguistic rule was to stay leave of social mass medium . This meant no social medium apps on my phone and block these website from my estimator internet browser .
I still needed to get at Facebook for business purposes , so I establish a intelligence provender blocking agent on my web browser app . This forbid me from using it for anything besides business .
After a workweek , I realized my penury to scroll on my phone moved from societal culture medium to YouTube and Pinterest , so I decided to extend my social sensitive detox to include a full smartphone detox . I have the necessary on my headphone , and that is it .
Was it tempting to cheat?!
Yes and no … For me , Facebook is a job necessity due to Facebook Groups . I ’ve had a newsfeed blocking agent on Facebook for several months , so it is sluttish for me to remain on track with it .
However , staying off of Instagram was hard . I had to get at it a couple of times in the first week for business reasons , and almost got lose in scrolling the feed . Luckily , I caught myself and ratify off immediately . Since then , I have n’t find the need to assure it .
What did you do instead? I think to be successful myself I would need to decide what I want to do instead every time I feel the urge to grab my phone.
Before I fully committed to my social medium break , I created a design . This helped me focus on why the rupture was important and to keep me off of social medium .
I ’ve made the mistake of not design out my breaks , and it made things more difficult than it really necessitate to be .
This November was a busy one . I had a few goal I wanted to accomplish , such as take part in NaNoWriMo and taking a course for my business ( which is why I had to get at a distich of thing on Instagram ) .
Outside of my goals , I had a listing of natural process to cite if I witness myself bored . They included proceed for a walk , journaling , indication book , cooking , etc .
I still had urges to mark my speech sound , and allowed myself to beak up my speech sound . However , with circumscribed feature , the urge quick subside and my focus has improved significantly .
How hard was itreally?
When you plan your social media breaking and set up right boundaries to help the initial secession , it is n’t hard . In fact , I have happen that it is very free and enjoyable to maltreat away from societal media .
Did you have any big epiphanies or little things you have learned through your social media detox?
Oh yes ! My wedding anniversary occurred during the first week of my social media break . At first , I palpate like a direful wife for not posting about it and letting everyone know it was our anniversary . I stand for , if it is n’t post on social media , did it really happen ?
By the end of the day , I was so thankful I was on a social media break , because I was able to focus on observe my matrimony without snap it or worrying who was telling us “ Happy Anniversary ” . After all , our hymeneals day of remembrance is about us , not everyone else .
What really surprised me is how little I missed social media . It did n’t stop me from connecting with anyone that I normally talk with , because there are many dissimilar avenue to connect with people outside of social medium . Realizing that I do n’t have to have social media to be social was an middle opening experience .
Did you notice any changes in yourself (like your mood, activities, energy, bedtime, etc)?
Yes , there were definitely some changes that occurred during my societal media detox . The overall character of my life-time improved significantly because I was able to give my full tending to the affair I was doing .
My mood was more unchanging over the break of serve . I did n’t get aggravated with things as quickly . I assume longer walk without my telephone set and spent more metre journaling . My sleep was more peaceful , because I was n’t wondering about the thing I would miss while sleeping .
The self-aggrandizing change I noticed in myself was my ability to focus on things . Whether it was my body of work , a conversation with a friend , or doing some kind of ego - aid , I was able to to the full concenter and be present with it .
Are you going back on social media again when the month is up?
No , I decided to extend my social medium gaolbreak , because I do n’t really know what I need from social medium . Before my break , I feel so much pressure sensation to show up , even when there was nothing to say . I honestly never want to palpate that press again .
I am enjoying the separation , and as long as I am savour it , I ’m not go to force myself to sign in again .
How do you think you’ll use social media differently after this experience?
I ’m still working through a few ideas , but I know it will be less often and with more intent .
What are your tips for me if I decide to do a social media detox? Like, give me a step-by-step of what to do, and what not to do (if anything).
First , you need tomake a programme for your societal media detox . What is your intention with the shift and why is it important to you ? be after a few activities that you may do instead of check social media , such as going for a walk , reading a Quran , fix a prissy repast from scratch , etc .
secondly , set up any and every bounds you could mean of to assist you stay off of societal media . This includes :
One thing I do apprize you to do before the detox is declutter who you follow . I ’ve set up that decluttering a few daytime before a detox allow a sense of relief and establish you that you wo n’t miss out on as many thing as you think .
The veneration of leave out out is inviolable right on before you start your detox , so doing this a few days before you sign out of your societal media accounts will make it a small easier .
Snooze or dampen anyone who post on social medium leading up to the head start of your detox to decrease your fearfulness of missing out , because you wo n’t see any novel posts before signal out . you’re able to unmute them once you return and the snoozing automatically add together them back into your provender after the 30 day .
Lastly and most importantly , take how you will reintroduce yourself to societal spiritualist once your detox period come to an end . Do NOT terminate your detox without a plan .
Will you limit up raw boundaries , use it as a reward system , set up metre blocking apps to ensure you are intentional with your utilization , and/or prevent it from entering into certain room of your home ?
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Where can everyone find you online?
you could determine me online atthetannehillhomestead.comwhich is the practiced fashion to get in touch with me . I ’m also a prominent fan ofPinterestand would love to have you join me there !
I really hope that hearing from Erin has made you think a little harder about how you use social medium , or screens in general — perchance you ’ll even try your own social media detox ! It has definitely give me a destiny to conceive about with how I practice technology .
