5 Reasons to Take a Break from Social Media

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You’ve heard the saying right? Comparison is the thief of all joy. Well, if you have any access to social media, then chances are you understand the meaning of this saying.

I often wonder if people back in the day were happier and more content with what they had because they didn’t have access to everyone else life literally at their fingertips. A sure-tell sign that you might need a break from social media, might be the moment you start to spend more time dreaming up the life you see instead of living in the life you have.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to dream and set goals. It can be a good thing to be inspired by what you see on social media. But once you begin to struggle to find gratitude in your blessings, the problem arises. This is the place I found myself in recently and decided a good old-fashioned social media hiatus was needed.

5 Benefits of a Social Media Hiatus

There are a few things I am looking forward to during my hiatus. I hope these benefits encourage you to take a break yourself if you find that you are glued to your phone more than your reality.

Reconnect With Yourself

I am a dreamer. As a child, I spent a lot of time daydreaming and using my imagination like it was a superpower. If you’re into the Enneagram, I am a Type 4- The Artist or Individualist. This describes my personality type as a person who “desires a life that is unique and rich with meaning”.

My motivating fears, according to the Type 4 are:

• I’m not sure who I really am.”
• “I’m ordinary and insignificant.”
• “I will never be loved for who I am.”

*Resource: Enneagram Empowerment by Laura Miltenberger

Knowing my personality type, I see the comparison trap as a caution area to my mental health. I can be sucked into looking at the lives of others believing that I am not enough as I am, though my heart desires to be who I am deep down. Stepping away from the made-up expectations of others allows one to reconnect with themselves.

Less Stress & More Mindfulness

I am not a big fan of news media or watching the news on television. My mom once said to me that I should really watch the news so that I can stay up to date on current events. My response to her was that the news drains my spirit. I cannot watch it. It simply takes too much out of me.

Social media, like news channels, bring me a great deal of stress. Media is meant to entertain while providing information. I see the point in this, but there is a downside. Another aspect of someone with a type four enneagram personality is that we desire authenticity. The news and social media are nothing of the sort, ha. So less time spent on it, more time spent on mindfulness.

A social media hiatus allows me the mental space to be present. Notice areas in my life that need true improvement. Decide where I need to set boundaries. Without that stress, I can be aware of what I am seeing and feeling without distraction and interruption.

Taking Back Control

One thing I noticed contributing to my slight phone addiction was that I was trying to find an escape from my burnout and overwhelm. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I mention how challenging motherhood can be. I honestly think I mention it as often as I do because I lived in la-la land before becoming a mother and did not think it would be this hard. No one really talks about the everyday struggle apart from sleepless nights and sore boobs.

As a mom, you’re going to experience seasons of burnout, especially when you’re not taking care of yourself. This is why self-care is so important. You may find yourself trying to escape in social media, binge-watching Netflix, and ignoring the obvious.

Those hours spent on social media can be used to take back control of your circumstances and create new routines and systems. These are changes that allow you to rest and be productive with the time you have. This reduces burnout and gives you a chance to reset.

Reconnect With Reality

What is reality? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines reality as “the totality of real things and events”. So, in theory, wouldn’t reality be subjective? When you look at your life, what do you see? Do you see your true reality, or is it the totality of images and false realities from those things outside of yourself?

Social media has the ability to distort our own idea of what life is for ourselves. While we don’t have control over the events that take place in our lives, we do create our own realities. They are within ourselves and our minds. Our perception of the world is our own reality. The less time we spend looking at someone else’s, the more we connect with our own.

Enjoy Those Things You Love

A social media hiatus frees up your mental, emotional, and physical time and space. This allows you to enjoy those things you love. For me, I want to enjoy playing with and teaching my kids, time with my husband, a clean home, home-cooked meals, reading a good book, morning walks, and so much more.

But Deanna, isn’t cooking, cleaning, and homeschooling some of the things that caused the burnout in the first place? Sure, I can certainly look at it that way. But what if I told you I believe staying out of social media’s false reality and letting go of FOMO (fear of missing out) grants me permission to embrace those responsibilities and find the honor in them.

I am a mother, a strong woman, entrusted with the responsibility of keeping a home and raising humans. There is great joy in that, but the short coming happens when distracted by outside factors and pressures.

I hope you found some of my personal journaling in this blog post relatable and you too might find a bit more freedom in a social media hiatus.

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Tell me, have you found yourself clinging to your devices more lately? Let’s encourage each other in the comments.