Social media is a noisy place. There’s so much stuff out there trying to grab your attention. So many “experts” preaching online about what you should do with your life. Coaching on how you should be, how you should act, and what you should and shouldn’t do. It can be a lot. Sometimes you have to separate yourself from that. Sometimes you have to take a break from social media. Unfollow everyone. Quiet the noise.
Here are a few signs to watch out for to know it’s time to detox and take a break from social media.
How to know when it’s time to take a break from social media
You’re constantly comparing yourself to your social media friends.
In the process of getting my online business set up for success, I knew social media was a problem when I felt myself trying to measure up to what everyone else was doing online. The types of pictures they would post. The types of captions they would write. How much I shared. How fast I achieved success (or didn’t). The constant comparison was clouding my own intuition. It became too much.
You feel anxiety when you scroll
I also knew it was a problem when I was scrolling on my news feed and constantly just feel anxiety and stress because there are people who seemingly had what I didn’t have or I should say had what I wanted. Those same people screamed in their captions about how you should be exactly like them or do exactly what they do and how that’s the only way to bring things into a reality. And preaching it in a slightly toxic way. Many times it was contradicting one another. It was too much. It was causing too much stress. I felt the tension in my head and the pressure to perform and hustle and be like them.
How do I take a break from social media
Take a break from social media accounts
I just had to delete 99% of the coaches and online gurus I followed on Instagram. I had to delete everybody who was in the online business space that was all singing the same song about hustle, hustle, hustle, manifest, manifest, manifest. It’s like everyone was copying off of each other and I needed to take a break from social media.
Follow what sparks joy
Social media as a whole doesn’t always bring anxiety. Sometimes it’s specific accounts. When that’s the case, it’s good to remove whatever causes you to build up a lot of resistance and stress. Now, I mostly only follow and keep people on my page who march to the beat of their own drum. I follow people who post about family and their personal adventures. People who don’t preach at others, but rather just who literally just share their world. That is what sparks joy for me. Decide what parts of social media (if any) spark joy for you.
Turn up your own volume
Sometimes you’ve already learned the gist of whatever you need to know. Sometimes it just comes down to implementation. I’ve gotten to a point in my journey where I am trying things my way. I am managing my feelings. I’m practicing feeling good. I’m breathing in and out. If I feel anxiety or stress, I’m breathing in and out slowly. What is your gut guiding you to do?
Take your power back
I’m letting go of that which no longer serves me. I know even that sounds so cliché, but it’s true. Rather than getting angry or mad, I’m just making the decision to be done. I’m done with the teachers and the experts and the gurus on the Internet. I’m taking my power back. And you can too. You can decide for yourself what feels best to do as a next step. Only you know what feels good. You’ll have to listen and decide for yourself what feels in alignment with the vision you said you wanted.
Sometimes you have to quiet the noise and take a break from social media so you can find your originality.
That’s what I’m all about. Learning to tap into your superpower and find your own way that works for you. This is especially true when you’re wanting to start a business. What’s key is growing more into your highest level version of YOU.