Thoughts on my Instagram Break

These are the final photos I posted to my Instagram account in December 2018. On the 22nd to be precise. Later that afternoon I deleted the app from my phone.

WHY I TOOK A BREAK
I had been noticing for awhile that the time I spent on Instagram was becoming less enjoyable, and more stressful. The effects were especially noticeable on my mental health, and my already very well-developed FOMO. I was feeling a lot of negative emotions, and I felt kind of empty too. I want to feel joy and I want to be filled up, and Instagram was taking more than it was giving. So, something had to give. And since I don't run a business through IG, or need it for work (thanks Lauren!), it was actually an easy decision.

HOW I SPENT MY TIME INSTEAD

• I did go on Facebook more often than usual, but it still did not replace the amount of time I was spending on IG before
• My break started shortly after we got a new couch, and I really enjoyed just sitting on my couch, looking outside or enjoying our little festive tree
• I had a lot of stuff going on near the end of December - visiting family, my December Daily project, cooking and cleaning - so I was able to get a lot more of that done successfully
• I read more articles online
• I started on some house projects I've been wanting to tackle
• I started daily journaling during the time before bed that I normally would have been mindlessly scrolling (this habit is sooooo good for me for so many more reasons than I could post here, but I did post them here if you're interested.)
• January is one of my favourite months, because I love goal setting and a fresh year, so I was really able to dedicate a lot of mental space to that

THOUGHTS ON MY BREAK
First things first, I didn't miss it. I didn't realize until about 2 weeks into the break that being on IG was really taking me out of the current moment. Not only when I was mindlessly scrolling, but also when I was doing something and would stop to think "I should post this on IG". As soon as that thought enters your mind, you view the event differently, act differently interact differently.

There were many times early on in the break when I did something and immediately thought "I totally would have posted this..." It felt GOOD to get back to being fully present in the moment after I had that thought. And now I have even fallen out of that habit.

It's also kind of a relief to not perform for social media, or think of a caption, and hashtags and all the extra mental load that comes with it. Not only do I have more time, I have more mental space. I've got so many things I want to accomplish this year, and making a physical and mental break has shown me that I have all the time I need to get things done, as long as I purposefully use my time.

WHAT'S NEXT?
I'm so very pleased with how successful my break was for my productivity, cultivating other (healthy) habits, and (most importantly) my mental health, but I also really love seeing my what my nephews are up to across the world!!

I think my next steps are going to be to drastically cull my "Following" list. With all the added time I was spending on Facebook, I realized that a lot of the folks and organizations (but mostly organizations to be honest) were duplicating things I could either read online separately - directly on their websites for example - or were pissing me off in general because I hate mainstream media! I did a massive "unlike unfollow" on Facebook, and I think the time has come for me to do the same for IG.

On this episode of Crafty Ass Female the gals chatted with Nicole Reaves, who has deleted Instagram entirely and I definitely felt connections with her reasons. She mentioned that it was a long time coming, and while I might get there eventually, I don't know if I'm quite there yet.

FURTHER READING
If you are thinking that an IG break is right for you, you don't need anyone to give you permission. But if you are looking for more info, a quick google search shows that a lot of folks have done it, and all write of the immense benefits they discovered. For example:
Taking a Break from Instagram by Mike O'Leary on Fstoppers
5 Reasons you need to go an Instagram Break this instant by Shumaila Ahmed on Odyssey
Why I'm taking a break from Instagram and you should too by Kevin Smith on Elite Daily
Why I'm taking a break from Instagram by Olivia Katz on Medium
...and these are literally just the first four posts I found when I googled "Instagram Break".

I am currently reading this book - Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle - and it really fits this theme. I highly recommend it to anyone with a smart phone, and especially to parents whose kids (of any age) have smart phones.

You can find me on Instagram @sonotladylike...but maybe give it a couple of days!

xo