I decided to take a break from social media in September. I’m still active but not be obligated to a schedule. I didn’t determine how long the break would be in advance.  Find out more about it in this blog post.

I’m currently four months in and let me tell you, I am loving it!  So I’m going to share what I’ve learned during my social media sabbatical. Warning, everything I learned isn’t positive but the positive things I’ve learned are worth it.

Benefit #1 of A Social Media Break

The biggest benefit I’ve experienced over the past four months is being able to really focus. I’ve been able to focus on enjoying life with my family. To focus on creating a healthier lifestyle. To focus on what I really want my business. I’ve also been able to focus on what I want for the podcast. 

The funny thing is, I thought I was focused before I started this social media break. But now I can see I’m not as focused as I thought I was. It’s amazing how much of our brain capacity is filled by social media content which slows it down. That means we lose the capacity to operate and think through things. Now that is my personal opinion. But I’ve heard the same things from enough people to say I take ownership of what I said.  

But now my brain is fully functioning and I can focus on what I need to focus on. And I’ve been able to enjoy life and my business without feeling pressure to post every moment online! We enjoyed our vacation at the beach. I took tons of photos but didn’t post that many. Personally I don’t post when we’re out of town for security reasons. But even when we returned home, I only used my morning coffee shots. 

I was also able to enjoy six days of Bible based training over Zoom with my husband. It’s a special training we enjoy every five years because we’re full-time preachers. So not having to worry about posting and having to respond to comments during that week was a necessity. 

We also celebrated our anniversary last week and I didn’t even feel any pressure to post in Instagram stories. I just took in every moment and we enjoyed the time together. Great food and time to sit with our feet up and just reflect and laugh with each other. I loved it! 

And I started my weight loss journey some time ago but I struggled for a while. I’ve been able to make the most progress over the past four months because I have been using my time wisely! I feel great, I’ve lost 8 lbs and I’m looking forward to seeing that number continue to go down. Increasing my physical activity has really helped boost how I feel physically and mentally. And I need both of those to invest in myself emotionally and spiritually. To hear more about my weight loss journey, check out this blog post.

And let me tell you, having room in my brain to be more focused has truly helped me work out some things in my business that you will see in 2022 that I couldn’t get worked out mentally. Not to mention, I’m working on some amazing things for one of my clients for next year as well. My brain is firing on all pistons and generating some amazing ideas and I love it! So make sure you follow me on Instagram for sneak peaks behind the scenes in stories, especially if you plan to launch a podcast! 

Benefit #2 of A Social Media Break

Let me start this one off by telling you I am a huge fan of a morning and an evening routine. I talk about both in this blog post. I share some self-care hacks you may want to know. Both routines are critical to me showing up as my best self every day. But I noticed that over time, I was spending more time on my phone too close to bedtime. So it got harder and harder for me to go to sleep at night and I had to start taking melatonin again.

The blue light from our phones, tablets and computer stimulates our brains and makes it difficult for us to relax when it’s time to go to sleep. For a while I was putting my phone down by 9:30 but that time moved closer to 10:00, then 10:30. We try to go to bed by 11:00 so this was a problem! But I’m proud to say that I’ve got this under control now and I’m falling asleep with no  help and with no problem. 

Benefit #3 of A Social Media Break

My family has strong faith and our life is built around that. But there is always room for improvement but that requires study and meditation. The best time for me to do this is in the morning. While I spend time reading a Bible passage every morning with my coffee, I knew I could do more if I spent less time on social media in the morning. Now I am happy to say that not only am I reading more of my Bible, but I spend time doing research and focusing on the parts of my personality that I need to change to be a better Christian. This brings me so much satisfaction and helps me be more patient and forgiving as well. 

Benefit #4 of A Social Media Break

Social media can make you think that the people and things you have in your life aren’t enough. It can even make you feel like the actions you’re taking and the things you’re doing every day aren’t enough. The truth is, I get to decide what people are in my life and what I will and will not do in my life and in my business. I get to do business my way and live my life with intent and I don’t need anyone else’s permission to do that. Neither do you!

Social media can steal that level of confidence from you and make you feel like you don’t have enough and you aren’t doing enough. But you are MORE THAN ENOUGH! Cutting back the time I spend looking at what everyone else is doing on social media has helped me see how full my life is every day. And I’m thankful for all that I have!

Benefit #5 of A Social Media Break

I’ve enjoyed having more time to reconnect with friends and family through Zoom, on the phone, via text or in person. I really have missed updates from friends and family. Social media is a great tool to help us stay in touch with our loved ones. But it’s not the only way to stay in touch! While I can see what my friends and family are doing wherever they live, and I do love feeling connected to them, there are other ways to keep in touch. And traditional ways of keeping in touch are more intimate than just watching their stories and seeing their posts. 

So these are the five amazing benefits I’ve experienced while taking a break from social media. But there are trade-offs to everything. Have I generated a ton of leads or booked any new clients? No, I haven’t. But I’m ok with that! Here’s the thing, my business is designed to support my lifestyle and I don’t have the capacity to take on any clients right now. The biggest reason is because as I mentioned earlier, I am working through the details for some amazing new services and digital products for women who want to launch a podcast and even for women who already have a podcast but feel overwhelmed by all the things it requires. 

I’m putting the finishing touches on the first one now which is designed to accompany the presentation for my first virtual summit of 2022 in February! I’ve gotten great feedback on it and I can’t wait to share it with everyone because it is a much needed system that is going to save podcasters a ton of time. So truth is, taking a break from social media doesn’t mean my business isn’t growing…it’s just growing slower. And I’m ok with that too! 

So I can’t say enough of the benefits of taking a break from social media but that is all I’m going to share today. Now you may be wondering when will I be fully back on social media? Honestly, I don’t know the exact date. But it will be some time next month so that I can properly promote the summit in February. 

When I come back, I will show up on my terms and I’m going to have to come back with really hard and fast boundaries. So that’s my update. The past four months into this social media break has been very good for me. 

And if you feel you need to do this for a little bit of time, do it. The choice is yours and you deserve time unplugged!

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