Benefits of doing a social media detox
Hi everyone! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted a blog post. I’ve been spending my days doing homework, reading, spending time outside, and trying to take a break from social media. So often I find myself mindlessly getting on social media. Like, I do the thing where I will close out of Instagram and then immediately click on the app to bring it back up again. Anyone else do that? Anyway, I’ve recently noticed how much time I spend on my phone, and I’ve been trying to take that time to do creative, productive things rather than just mindlessly grazing social media. So, today I decided to write a post about why it is so important to take a social media detox.
Benefits of doing a social media detox
Sometimes I feel so stuck when it comes to social media. Like a big part of having a blog is posting content not only on the blog, but also posting and promoting content on Instagram, twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc. I LOVE writing posts for my blog, but sometimes the social media aspect of it can be overwhelming and draining.
Whether or not you have a blog, I feel this is something that a lot of people struggle with. There is a constant pressure to be present and active on social media while still being present and active in the “real world.” A lot of us fail at balancing both, though. We spend the majority of our time on our phones without putting enough effort into our actual lives.
Now, I’m not saying that I hate social media. I love it just as much as the next person, I just think it is important to take a break from it occasionally. Here are some of the reasons that a social media detox can benefit you.
You have more time to do other things
According to Huffington post, the average person spends 5 hours on their phone a day. That is INSANE! I’m probably guilty though. The worst part about that is that a lot of the time we’re not getting anything out of the time that we spend on our phones. Most of us are probably mindlessly looking at social media for 5 hours a day! That is 35 hours a week. Yikes.
Imagine all of the things that you could do with that time instead. Even if you only take half of that time to do something else, that is still almost 20 extra hours a week that you have.
Here are some things that you could do with that extra time:
- Read a book
- Go outside
- Have a dance party by yourself
- Draw
- Go to the gym
- Go have a meal with your friends
- Homework
- Watch Netflix
- Paint
- Take a bath
- Practice self care
- Any other things that you could think of
You spend less time comparing yourself to others
One of the worst things about social media in my opinion is the fact that we spend so much of that time comparing ourselves to others. A lot of us don’t even notice the impact that spending so much time doing that has on our mood on a daily basis, let alone the effect that it can have on your self esteem. I feel so much happier overall when I spend less time on social media, and I contribute that mostly to not spending so much time comparing myself to others.
It could help you feel more at peace
Like I said in the point above this, I feel much happier when I’m taking time off of social media. I think another factor that goes into that is that I don’t have to see all of the sad things that are happening all over the world. I think it is so important to stay updated on current events and what is going on, but sometimes being bombarded with sad news all throughout the day via social media can be so discouraging. Taking a break from being on my phone every so often helps me forget, if just for a little while, that horrible things are happening all over the world. I just get some time to pretend that I’m in my own little world and that everything is absolutely fine. You know what I mean? If you feel the same way sometimes, then it is probably time for you to take a little break from social media.
You have to actually spend time with people to get human interaction
One big reason that people love social media is because it is a way for us to get the human contact that we so crave without even having to leave the comfort of our homes. However, if you spend a little time away from social media, you might find yourself hanging out with your friends and family more often so that you can get that human interaction.
These are just a few things that are great about taking a social media detox. I could probably go on forever about the benefits of taking time away from your phone, but I’m going to stop here before I accidentally write a novel.
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