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Heart to Heart: Things I Learnt From My 9 Months Social Media Detox!
Today I have a confession to make. If you follow me on Instagram (@lyy.hng) for a long time now, you might have noticed that I didn’t have Instagram for almost a year anymore. Back then, I received a lot of messages from you guys, where my Instagram account went. I deactivated my account because of my social media detox.
Why did I do that? The truth is that even though I love having a super beautiful Instagram feed because it reminds me of a pretty online photo album, sometimes Instagram is driving me crazy. It is a bizarre feeling. Sometimes I get sucked up into that perfect virtual world. When everything is going to my head, I face so many problems and struggles such as FOMO, anxiety or just the feeling of not being good enough.
Therefore, I decided to take a social media detox. It was never intended to be a break for that long, but somehow it ended up being for almost a year. Thanks to that social media detox, I would say that I learnt a lot about myself and grew so much during that time. So here are all the things I learnt from my nine months of social media detox!
T I M E & P R O D U C T I V I T Y
I have to admit that in the beginning, it was super dull without Instagram. It is so crazy, but social media has such a significant impact on our lives nowadays. Think about it. How often do you find yourself scrolling mindlessly through Instagram? Just to realise that you already did it for 30 minutes? So when I didn’t have my Instagram account, I was very bored initially. However, I got used to it after a while. Therefore, I had so much more time to do other things. For example, I was reading more books or improving my piano skills. Besides, you can’t imagine how much more productive you will get because there won’t be any distraction.
One of my most significant weaknesses is procrastination. A problem I am facing all the time! Sometimes, when I seem not to get my work done, I am always checking social media quickly. Summing up all those little short breaks, Instagram was such a real waste of time! Learning from it nowadays, I still keep an eye on my social media time and try to reduce it.
L I V E I N T H E M O M E N T
During the last years, I used to film the annual firework festival in my hometown. I actually filmed everything because I wanted to keep it as a memory. The only thing was that at some point, I realised that I only watched the firework through my phone display. Even though it is actually happening in front of my eyes right now! I want to tell you that sometimes I got caught up so much in creating a beautiful story. Hence I totally forgot to enjoy what is happening right now and living in the moment.
While I was on my social media detox, I realised more so many little details. I have always appreciated small and kind gestures. Nevertheless, you will become more grateful and significantly happier when you start to live in the moment. Additionally, you will also get a deeper connection with your loved ones. Because you won’t be distracted anymore. Therefore, you will be able to concentrate on that moment with your beloved ones fully.
I do admit that I still post a lot of stories on my Instagram. Nevertheless, the truth is that nowadays, I am capturing a moment for a maximum of 15 seconds. After that, I save it to my camera roll and will post it later. Sometimes I am enjoying and living the moment so much that I even forget to capture anything. But it doesn’t matter anyway because I still captured that particular moment in my mind, especially in my heart.
C O M P A R I N G & F O M O
This was probably the most important lesson from my social media detox. I know it doesn’t seem like this, but sometimes I also face FOMO or comparing myself.
From those problems, I would say comparing myself to others is the least I experience. Obviously, I also envy all those beautiful VS models and would love to look like that. But I am not that type of person who wants someone elses life. Simply because I am delighted about my journey, with all ups and downs. Of course, I wish plenty of things would be different, but in the end, all those facts are making me who I am today.
Coming to FOMO (fear of missing out). This is something I faced more when I was younger. When you are in your teenage years, you continually struggle with the pressure of school, friends and popularity. In fact, of this, I was more afraid of missing out on something then nowadays. When you get older, life gets more complicated, and the list of things to do seems endless.
On the other hand, the hours of sleeping time unfortunately decreases. Therefore, you will be merely happy at some point in life when you can stay at home. So nowadays, when I see a funny story on Instagram, I am glad for my friends that they have so much fun. Due to that, the fear of missing out on something will fade from time to time.
A N X I E T Y
Comparing yourself to others and FOMO are two of many other ways, which can lead to anxiety. Anxiety is also probably my biggest problem because I am continually struggling with it. And social media doesn’t make it any easier.
Scrolling through social media is tempting when you see all those picture-perfect lives. It is so easy to get blinded by it and even get sucked up by it. At this point, I want to remind you that Instagram is only a small part of someone else’s life! Please always remember that not everything is real on social media. Not even on my account, it is.
While I was on my social media detox, all these problems were among the main reasons I took this break. I wasn’t confronted with picture perfects lives and didn’t see anything other people are doing. Due to that, I could get my mind better at ease by focusing on myself.
M E T I M E
The new lifestyle everyone wants to achieve is being super busy. However, being busy shouldn’t be as fancy as it sounds. The problem is that seeing all the perfect lifestyles on social media, we tend to want more. More materialistic things, more fancy vacations, and more success in everything we do in life. Wanting more means that you have to accomplish and perform more. While trapped in that devil’s circle, we completely forget to take a break, treat ourselves, and have me-time. This is also the reason why so many people are suffering from burnout.
What I learned from my social media detox is that I can go within my speed when I am focusing on myself. My mind gets at ease, and I do find more time to treat myself. Whether it is with Korean skincare or simply just relaxing. Thanks to that, I have more energy and motivation to perform more and achieve my goals more manageable.
Now back to the Instagram world, sometimes I just turn off my phone when I need a moment to remind myself that life is so much more than just about social media.
K E E P I N M I N D. . .
everyone, if you are feeling exhausted or even sad because of the online world, just do a social media detox. In the end; you won’t miss anything! Your family and friends will call or text you anyway if they have something important to tell. Therefore, go and have a lot of me-time and live in the moment! Life is too short to spend it all on Instagram and co.
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One Comment
Hayley
Great post as usual hun x
We all need a break and time to recoup and not get sucked into the social media bubble!!
As you say life to short but glad your back x
Hugs
Hayley (http://www.ourdubailife.com)