My Experience Giving Up Social Media For A Weekend

 

Last Friday at 2pm I logged out of all my social media accounts and such commenced the social media detox which would last until Monday morning.

I have always seen social media as great and spent copious hours on it daily but I wanted to step away to see what kind of influence and impact it has within my day to day.

I went an entire weekend without touching social media and I wanted to share with you how I went as well as hopefully inspire you to give it a go.

I'm going to be talking about the positive benefits I experienced, where I struggled a bit and ultimately how it has changed my perception on the value that social media brings to my life.

Positives

Productivity = boosted
I didn't procrastinate on social media and spent WAY less time on my phone so I got so much more done. Saturday lunch time that I flopped onto my bed after a morning of cleaning and errands, opened my phone to realize I couldn't waste time on social media, and immediately hopped back up to go do something instead of sit on my phone for the next hour.

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So that I wouldn't be tempted, I moved all of my social media apps into a folder and took it off my main page of apps. So when I kept on going to hit the app where Instagram once was, I would be opening my Music app instead and played some good music. Another pro to this was that whenever I opened up my phone, there were no social media apps that I would usually instantly gravitate towards so instead I found myself reading a lot of news from my news app.

I felt happier and more content
My mood was lifted because I wasn't constantly comparing myself and my weekend to other people. I felt more fulfilled within what I was doing. I enjoyed my weekend walks with Puffin (my pupper) way more because I was just looking around at the scenery instead of updating my Instagram story or scrolling through my feed (I really shouldn't do that anyway while on a walk).

Struggles

Missed my friends
I ultimately have the biggest problem with Instagram. I'm very visual so it's unsurprising that it is my favourite social media platform. It's also how I connect with a lot of my close friends and see what they are up to, with my Facebook feed more being watered down with a lot of updates from acquaintances. I did feel a bit disconnected at times but made up for it by texting them instead.
 
Posting withdrawals
When I went to the markets on Sunday I was seriously tempted to update my Instagram story because of all the insta-worthy food carts, flower stalls and beautifully lined fruit/veggies. I also meal prepped the most amazing meal prep of all meal preps (think Kanye "I'ma let you finish, but I did one of the best meal preps of all time! One of the best meal preps of all time!"). I would normally update my Instagram story with said amazing meal prep but had to resist the temptation this time.

The Verdict

Overall, I didn't REALLY miss it. Sure out of habit I went to open the app but I wasn't upset or unhappy that I wasn't able to sit there scrolling through my feed for the next hour. I just moved on and did something else. I very much feel recharged after my social media detox and have already noticed myself on it WAY less. Instead of aimlessly scrolling for hours, now most of the time I spend on social media is replying to comments or posting my own content.

I would highly recommend trying a social media detox if you notice yourself spending a bit too much time on a certain platform or if it is preventing you from getting things done since you procrastinate on it. I feel much better proving to myself that I can survive without social media and that I'm not reliant on it.