I Need a Social Media Cleanse

These are my thoughts completely jumbled….about a social media cleanse. There’s been a lot of talks lately about putting our phones down. I agree. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and chatting with a few of you about it. No one ever talks about the stress it is to keep up with this social media game.

The stress of having the perfect feed, gaining more followers, keeping the followers you have, posting enough, having engagement, being “authentic”, being “real”, being yourself, being everything to everyone. It’s demanding. And at times it’s not fun. 

Let’s be honest. Social media is depressing. I can personally admit that I get way to caught up in what everyone else is doing instead of focusing on myself. Not being appreciative of what I have, because someone else has something “better”. 

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah

When I wake up in the morning, I do what most people do. Check my phone. I start my day negatively by watching what everyone else is doing. The same thing happens before I go to bed. So I end my day negatively too. I need to be more focused, more productive, and less scatterbrained. 

I have known I need to start practicing self-care for years now. Hell, I haven’t even been able to lose weight for over 4 years. Part of self-care is mental too. Jealousy, anxiety, stress, etc. I always just tell myself to let it go and not let it stress me out. But it doesn’t work. If I’m on the social platform, I still feel jealous, still, feel anxious. 

I started to hate the person I had become – overweight, always tired, lazy, unproductive. Why couldn’t I be that girl that worked out every day, got dressed, did her makeup, had a clean house, ate well and slept well? Why couldn’t I be the person I wanted to be? Nothing was stopping me. I just had to do it. It sounds so ridiculous to admit, but it’s true. Instead, I spent hours a day with my nose in my phone. Wearing yoga pants even though I’ve never done yoga. Looking at all the half-done projects around our house and the pile of laundry in the closet. 

Instagram is not my job. Luckily, I have the option to just walk away. And really, I’d still be decorating my house whether Instagram is watching or not. My blog doesn’t stress me, it’s my happy place. It’s different because all the work is done on my computer, same with my email subscribers. There’s no ease of picking up the phone and getting lost down a social media rabbit hole. And with Facebook, I can use the Facebook Page app to monitor and post to my page without having to actually use and scroll through a Facebook feed. 

I’m a stubborn person by nature, so if you tell me not to do something or tell me no, I will find a way to do it and prove you wrong. The same goes for when I tell myself no. It wasn’t as simple as just not picking up my phone. I kept telling myself “don’t pick up that phone Allison, don’t do it” only 5 minutes later I’d pick up, open the app and start scrolling.

This article really helped me put into words and really understand what was going on with my brain and how I am feeling. The first 2 signs – being uninspired and never finishing a to-do list are my biggest issues! Number 10 and 11 spoke to me too. 

And this article reminded me that a social media cleanse is different for everyone. It’s not indefinite. It’s just a cleanse. I’ve chosen to give up Instagram because that’s my personal vice, but I’m keeping my Facebook page and my blog because those don’t distract me and still bring me joy. 

I’m interested to see where this journey will take me. How long will it last? I’m not sure. I suppose when I finally feel like it won’t distract me from my goals.