Social media is no doubt one of the best things that happened to humans. However, it’s also become the source of lots of negative effects.
Between loads of tension, pandemic, and misinformation, social media becomes too controlling for the people.
According to the survey done by The Harris Poll that happened on behalf American Psychological Association or APA, There is more than 68% adult in the US says that 2020 elections did the major stress to their regular lives.
On one hand, social media is becoming safe for business, building connections, and exploring. On the other hand, it is also a reason for losing the real connection with nature, people, and yourself.
Also, it builds insecurities, anxiety, and other tons of health as well as mental problems. And that’s why you need a break from time to time, it’s also called social media detox. To know how you can do it, make sure you read this carefully.
Why Do You Need To Take A Break From Social Media?
Doing mindless scrolling can seem completely harmless, however, the experts say that it can cause burnout. Social media creates the habit of multitasking where your brain is not made for handling more than one work at a time.
When you do it, you cause burnout which leads to lesser productivity.
Also, it causes a comparison game. You do the scrolling, see other people looking more successful, beautiful, and living the life that you dream of, it makes you feel unaccomplished as well as unfulfilled.
To know when you should consider the break from social media, here are some of the important signs that you will get.
You Feel Like Comparing Yourself A lot
Like it’s mentioned earlier, comparison on social media is common and one of the harmful effects that should be taken seriously.
People living their life on social media can make your life look dull. It causes the feeling like you didn’t achieve much that exceeds the self-comparison a lot.
Since people don’t post about their hardship or bad things, it’s common to believe that they are living the perfect life.
But if it’s hard to keep your mind doing the reality, it’s a sign that you need a break.
You Are Scrolling For God Knows How Long
There is something about scrolling on social media that comforts you. It can become an addiction if you don’t pay attention.
You might be picking your phone to check what’s happening on social media, but when you put them on, it is more than wasted.
Not knowing how long you are scrolling not just waste the time but also you are letting yourself get too absorbed.
It also affects your focus and productivity, as it becomes hard to keep your focus on one thing.
You Feel Down When You Are Using Social Media
Seeing other accomplishments and success is making you feel down. Or you are feeling like you haven’t done anything achievable, and moving too slowly than others.
It’s your time to shut your phone and give yourself some time to relax. Every person has their own space and pace. Comparison is not what you need.
You Feel Annoyed Whenever You Are On Social media
If your mind is getting too frustrated by everything on your feed, it may be something related to the oversharing or political-related things, if you feel the annoying feelings then you need a break.
Doing the scroll on social media causes stress to your mind and it’s obvious to feel those feelings.
You Are Freaking Out If You Don’t Check Timeline
If you feel like there is a pull that you can’t ignore, and whenever you do it makes you freak out. Then your social media scrolling is becoming a habit now. And not a good one, it’s more like an obsession.
It’s causing separation anxiety to your brain when you are not checking your timeline.
You Can’t Enjoy Before You Post
No matter what you are doing, maybe it’s your birthday or you are attending your sister’s wedding. Maybe you are trying a new restaurant or doing something fun, but you can’t feel it before you share it with the world.
You feel like you have to click photos and post them on social media. And after that, you spend hours to see how many likes or comments you get.
You Check Social Media Before Sleeping And After Waking Up
Well, there is a study done by the experts that say that more than 80% of smartphone users check their phone within 15 minutes after waking up in the morning.
This habit is not just making you feel stressed out and causing anxiety but also you are using the precious hours.
Checking the phone before you sleep also makes it hard to sleep well. And that leads to feeling groggy in the morning.
You Are Getting Obsessed
Do you feel like your feelings are getting attached to how many likes you are getting? Or the comments start to bother you? the feeling of not having enough people to see your comment and post causing you to be nervous.
Well, it’s your red alert that you are getting too obsessed. And you need a good detox from social media.
How To Take A Break From Social Media?
Even after you recognize all the signs that are indicating that you need a break, it can be hard to get away from social media.
It takes willpower and something strong to replace it with your habit. You should be more aware of your choices and goals before you start the process. And the best way to make sure you are doing it, you need your family or friends that can keep tabs on your activity.
Well apart from that, here are some of the ways that can help you in getting an effective break from your social media.
Turn Off The Notification
One of the ways that you can take a break from social media is by reducing interactions. And for that, you need to turn off the notification on your social media platforms.
When you get the notification for someone liking or commenting on your post, it gives you a positive social stimulus and causes the dopamine influx.
The stimulation is similar to a drug. The feeling can be addictive and make it hard for you to ignore social media.
Also when you are getting the constant beeping and notification makes you feel like you should check your phone.
That’s why you should keep the notification off. It will help you in sticking to your plan for taking a break.
Make Your Self Care As Prioritize
The best way that you can avoid social media is to replace it with something else. Don’t let the space empty as it can make you feel bored and make the break less effective.
Whenever you feel like you need to check the phone and do your scrolling marathon. Use different other activities to do better things in that place.
It can be :
- Go for a walk, take your bike and go for a ride if you are not interested in walking.
- Cook what you like to eat.
- Set timing for hanging out for the person.
- Do the journaling for at least 15 minutes.
Allot How Much Time You Want For Social Media
It’s important for you to know what content makes you feel good and what does the opposite. So when you know what kind of content makes you feel better, you can limit the usage and time.
It might be different depending on what you are preferring as content. However, make sure you have enough time and put that time on strict timing.
Put Your Away Far Away From Your Bed
It can be hard to resist scrolling when you are going to sleep. To make sure you are avoiding the urge, here you can keep your phone far away from where you sleep.
To improve your sleep, put your phone not close to your bed.
Use The Apps For Social Media Limitation
If you are using the iPhone, you can use the screentime for tracking how much time you are spending on social media.
Image source: sheknows
This can help you in limiting the usage and know how much percentage you are using. And if you are using Android, you can download the apps which are helpful for putting the limitation of social media.
Delete The Social Media Apps
Well to make it difficult for you to access your social media, you can delete the apps. It can be Instagram, youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. Remove the apps from your phone. However, you can access it by using the search engine.
This is for not making it easier to access social media, the more difficult it is, the better you can focus on your break.
Lots of time you don’t even want to scroll, but since it’s in your habit and the apps are on your phone, you do it anyway.
What To Do Instead Of Using Social Media?
So when you are on break, you might require to utilize the time for something better. However, for that, you should find something that can help in replacing your habit.
Also, it’s important to make sure that you don’t fall in that pit again. Here are some of the ideas that you can consider replacing social media with.
Find Yourself A Hobby
Hobbies can be anything that you like. Also, it’s a good replacement and you can actually learn something meaningful. This can help in adding the skills to your set which helps in boosting confidence.
Well here are some of the hobbies you can try :
- Go for swimming
- Try bike rides
- Try hiking
- Do yoga
- Try meditations
- Play with your pet
- Do star gazing
- Go for fishing
- Have a picnic
- Watch sunset or sunrise
- Take a walk
- Go for camping
Improve What Makes You Productivity Boost
When you put restrictions on the usage of social media, you have a lot of time in your head. Use the time for doing things that you don’t usually do.
Well, finding such works can help you in improving your productivity. And here is a list that you can try.
- Organize the room
- Describe the unwanted emails
- Clean up the phone
- Cancel the subscriptions you don’t want
- Do the laundry
- Start bullet journaling
- Make your bed
- Take out the trash
- Weekly plan your meal
Add The Household Works
You can do the work that needs to be done related to your household chores. Well, you might be procrastinating too much when you are using your social media that you forget to complete those tasks.
Now you have time, you can do the works like –
- Organizing your drawers, paperwork, attic, etc.
- Delete the unwanted items
- Clean the pantry
- Do the DIY projects
- Paint your room
- Improve the cooking
- Do the deep cleaning
- Do the regular maintenance
- Fix what’s broken
- Start gardening
Help Those Who Need It
There might be people around your locality who need something. You can help them if you have the access.
It should be anything, and it can be a good use of your time.
You can do the smallest thing and it will change someone’s day.
Well here are some points that you can consider:
- Donating items that you don’t need
- Volunteering for something you are passionate about
- Smile and say hello to people
- Collect trash and clean the area
- Donate the blood
- Read books at the hospital, nursing home, and school
- Create ready to go bags
- Foster animal
Find A Way To Add Little Bit More To Earning
Well, you can actually earn more by using the free time that you get from the social media break.
There are lots of different ways that can help you in earning more money. And here are some of the ways that you can try.
- Answering surveys
- Walking dogs or pets
- Start your blog
- Start your business
- Proofreading
- Editing content
- Teach language
- Do bookkeeping
Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs)
How Often Should You Take Social Media Breaks?
You can start by shortening the hours. If it’s two houses daily, keep it 1.5 hours for the next 10 days. Now when you are planning to go for a break, cut it to one hour daily and then back to 30 minutes after four days prior to the break.
How To Know When To Take A Break From Social Media?
If you see yourself reaching for your phone as soon as you wake up, and before even the day starts you are scrolling then it’s the time to take the break.
How Long Does The Social Media Detox Last?
It lasts around 30 days, but lots of people do it for seven days or even for a year depending on your aim and goals.
More To Explore:
- 20+ Signs You Need A Break From Work
- Most Effective and Proven Time Management Tips, Techniques & Strategies
- Ultimate Time Management Guide for Recruiters
- 30 Things to Do When You Need a Break at Work
- 60+ Time Management Habits To Add And To Remove
“Vision, strategy, and inspiration – these three words describe me the best. I am the founder of “TheLeaderboy” dedicated to leadership and personal development. As a self-taught practitioner, I have been studying the principles of effective leadership for the past decade and my passion lies in sharing my insights with others. My mission is to empower individuals to become better leader