5 Things That Happened After I Quit Social Media

Temporarily*.

A couple (a few?) weeks ago I took a week off of social media. Truthfully, I don’t know how long ago it was because I don’t even know what time is anymore. Can anyone else relate? 

Like, is it Thursday? Is it Monday? And WHAT time is it? I feel like I’m constantly waking up from one of those afternoon naps that you only anticipated being 15 minutes. The one where you immediately think it’s the next day and you’re late for school, work, etc. and it takes a few minutes to snap out of the space-time continuum hangover you’re trapped in. OMG, are we living in the Twilight Zone? Ha. Probably. 

Anyway — sorry — it’s CLEARLY taking its toll on my focus, too. 

I took time off of social media. One Friday night, I’d had enough of the negativity, division, and hatred in the world and needed to get as far away from it as possible. Interestingly, all I had to do was uninstall Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (and LinkedIn for good measure) off of my phone. 

If you’re looking for an escape from all the noise, I’d encourage you to follow my lead and delete the apps. I didn’t realize that they all basically have instant logins, even after logging out — so the next morning when I rolled over, grabbed my phone off the charger, and instinctively clicked the little blue bird, I was instantly back in my feed. FUCK. NO! Gahhhh! *Throws phone across the room in panic*


Once I’d retrieved my trusty sidekick, with one eye squinted like I was waiting for the bloody clown or possessed nun to appear in the abyss of a scary movie, I deleted each app from my home screen. 

And I. shit. you. not. I didn’t give it another thought after that. It very well could have been because I knew it would only be a week, but I never had the urge to re-download any of them. The only reason that I woke up on that seventh day and begrudgingly added them one-by-one back to my life was out of feelings of obligation. (We should probably unpack that sometime.)


Fellow bloggers and small-business owners: Do you feel perpetually trapped in the social media game, fighting the urge to run (among waning engagement, growth plateaus, and ever-evolving algorithms that seem to make it all worse?) WHAT DO WE DO? Halp. 🙇🏻


With the blog, I feel tied to social because that’s the main way I get my content out there — whether organically or through paid ads. And, without it generating income, I can’t justify paying someone to run it for me (yet) as much as I want to. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE interacting with you, and keeping up with your lives, but I’m so over the social game. 

In my week off, I:

  • Ate my meals while they were still hot because I didn’t have to spend time clearing off the table, finding the right angle, or the best lighting.

  • Got to be more mindful and intentional with my time. Did I spend the extra hours doing yoga and meditating? No. I played The Sims for a hundred hours. But mindfully. Lol. 

  • Slept in a little longer since I didn’t have to run the gamut of checking notifications, responding to comments, etc.

  • Had the opportunity to be more in the moment than I have in a really long time. Was I perfect? No. And that’s ok — there was progress. 

  • Found a deeper appreciation for the quiet moments and lap cuddles with Beau. (He appreciated my hands now being free for cheek scratches, instead of relentless scrolling.)

I really felt like I had the time to be a little more introspective. Where am I going? Who do I want to be when I get there? I felt free from societal pressures. Free from comparing myself to the people I followed or other bloggers. Free from (at least some of) the negativity that’s engulfing our country. Even if only for one short-lived week. 

Billy and I even took a trip to Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island which I shared on IGTV (after my return.)

Today, I long for that quiet like I long for warm sandy beaches while trapped in quarantine. (STILL) Go America. 

Lastly: I don’t mean to come across as tone-deaf or insensitive. I’m aware of my privilege in being able to (relatively easily) take a week off from the negativity and heartache. There’s a lot of pain that entire communities can’t turn off or tune out of.

Honestly, it really puts this all into perspective, which makes me hate the façade of social media even more. Empty black squares, YouTuber tea channels, pointless photo challenges. It’s all garbage. Where’s the actual good in the world? Where is the love? Maybe I’m just jaded and need more time away to be able to see the slivers of good through the sea of bad.

But here I am, pasting my Bit.ly link into status updates, completing yet another cycle of the game we’re stuck in. 

/rant

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