I recently took a social media cleanse to reset and prepare for my rebrand, and it was incredibly refreshing. If you’re feeling stuck and stagnant in your life or business, I highly encourage you to try a social media cleanse for yourself. You’d be surprised how much social media impacts our day to day lives and how much better off we’d be if we limited our screen time even just a bit. Read on for the five major benefits I experienced during my cleanse.
1. Attention Span Skyrocketed
Prior to taking a social media break, it was really hard for me to get through online articles. Even if I was interested in learning more about the topic the article was on, a few minutes in I’d be opening up Instagram to get a dopamine boost. Once I removed the distraction of social media, I felt so much more focused on the things that actually matter to me. I even subscribed to Medium, a blogging platform, and have been living on the app.
I feel so motivated after closing the Medium app as opposed to stressed and flustered when exiting Instagram. A blogger I’ve been really enjoying is Zulie Rane. She talks a lot about how creators can leverage AI tools to improve their work and I find it so insightful and engaging to read. It is a complete refresh compared to the world of Instagram where a million “experts” fight for your attention in bit-sized pieces of content aimed to build FOMO. The main reason I took this break was to get away from all of the online chatter, and my experience with Medium starkly highlighted the power social media has over us and its ability to influence our actions.
I also feel much more focused at work. I no longer open Instagram on autopilot to doom scroll, instead, I stay focused on the task at hand. Even writing this blog post felt so much more easeful because I wasn’t distracted every 5 minutes by the urge to check what was new on Instagram.
You know how people say it’s a problem that our generation and future generations are never bored? It’s so true. Not having social media allowed me to refocus my priorities because I was bored and didn’t have anything to distract me.
2. A Shift in Priorities
Spending time off of Instagram and turning my attention toward reading and writing also underscored the importance of long-form content over short-form content. This is something I always wanted to take action on, but it felt really difficult to do. Because I was putting so much pressure on my business, I felt like I needed to constantly pump out content via reels, carousels and stories to stay relevant. This led to a quantity over quality approach, resulting in less valuable content and burnout.
It was incredibly counter productive. An Instagram post or story is only relevant and pushed to audiences within the first 24 hours of sharing. Focusing on long-form content such as SEO optimized blogs, podcasts and YouTube allow your content to have a much longer life. People don’t only find it within the first 24 hours of sharing, they can find it each and every time they search for the keywords your content is optimized for. In fact, SEO content drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media.
3. Increased Presence, Energy and Feeling of Contentment
Y’all. You would not believe the amount of energy social media steals from you on a daily basis. Over the past few years I’ve been extremely focused on my well-being and taking the best care of myself, but I still struggled to stay consistent with habits like actually picking out an outfit each morning rather than staying in pajamas and making sure I properly nourish myself and cycle sync. As soon as I ditched social media, I felt like I had time to do the things I’d been wanting to do, but never seemed to have energy for. It was like an invisible chain was finally unlocked.
It also made me so much more present in the moment. When I’d go out to dinner with my husband, I wouldn’t be thinking about sharing it on social media, I was simply in the present moment. I also felt a bit embarrassed about how much I thought of social media in the initial few days of the cleanse. Random moments of my day that I would typically share to my Instagram stories felt more and more unnecessary as the cleanse went on.
On top of that, I was able to release the need for validation. When you spend so much time on Instagram, it can be easy to fall into the trap of overthinking and yearning for more appreciation. The constant comparison game can really leave an impact on your mental health and how you feel in your personal relationships. Taking a step away from it all helped me gain a better appreciation for the people I have in my life, and helped me stop focusing on the things I don’t have and shift my focus onto the things I do have.
4. New Interests Unlocked
As noted before, I’ve always loved to read books, but for some reason my attention span was so short when it came to reading articles online. Now, I’m loving reading articles on Medium and finding other creatives just like me. It’s inspired me to write more and really double down on the areas I love to learn about (think wellness, feminism, creativity & entrepreneurship).
Another thing that may surprise you about me is that I can be a bit anti-social at times (what can I say, I’m a Hermit Opportunist, if you know anything about Human Design). When I lived in New York, the thought of consistently having plans with friends really stressed me out. I’d get really tense when my husband would agree to plans without asking me and I’d feel like I was holding him back with my sometimes introverted tendencies. After exiting the world of social media, I started looking to make plans with our new community in Seattle as much as possible. It felt so refreshing to actually be excited for plans with friends. Weird, I know lol. (This could also be due to the overall lifestyle change, but the feeling significantly increased when I cut off social media).
Last but not least, I researched abstract painting to learn how I can flex my creative muscles in new and exciting ways. I’ve always enjoyed painting, but I would get overwhelmed because I’m not the best drawer. However, I’ve been loving getting creative with abstract art because it really is based on your intuition. Once you learn a few techniques, you can follow whatever feels right intuitively and end up with a beautiful work of art to showcase in your home!
5. Mental Clarity and Greater Attention to Detail
Another benefit that arose from my social media cleanse was clarity on how I want to move forward with my content strategy. While watching the Casey Neistat interview on the Rich Roll podcast, Casey pointed out in the world of social media many people are promoting themselves rather than their craft, which is so true. I fell into the trap of thinking I had to show off a particular lifestyle (think dancing on stories, living luxuriously and having everything figured out) rather than focusing on honing my craft. This also goes back to the quantity over quality dilemma I was having.
Due to the pressure I was under, I felt like I never had time to think things through, so I’d often half-ass my content creation process rather than slowing down and being more intentional. During my social media cleanse I got really clear on each and every detail needed to produce more thoughtful and professional content going forward, and I’m so excited for it. It’ll be a HUGE step up from what I was originally doing.
I also got clear on what content I want to share and what I’d like to keep private. Of course I still want to share my personality and wellness tips on my page, but when it’s all spontaneous emotions, it’s not really serving me.
Closing Thoughts
As we navigate the digital age, it’s easy to underestimate the impact of social media on our lives. By taking a break from the constant stream of notifications, we can refocus our energy on what truly matters, cultivate new passions, and ultimately, lead more intentional and fulfilling lives. It also helps keep our nervous system regulated rather than being consistently stimulated by a never ending stream of information.
Disclaimer: My goal was to take one full-month off of social media, but I can’t say I didn’t open Instagram throughout my cleanse. I work for an influencer marketing agency and manage their socials, so popped on here and there. However, I did not doom scroll or spend more than 10 minutes on the app at a time, and I refrained from posting anything other than what I felt truly needed to be said (ex: asking for peace in light of the tragedies happening across the world). That being said, another lesson that came from this was, if you set out to do something, you don’t have to be so strict with yourself. Reducing your social media consumption, no matter by how much, can make a positive impact on your mental health.
If this blog post inspired you to kickstart your own cleanse, please let me know how it goes and the benefits you reap from it, I’d love to hear!
