THE BENEFITS OF TAKING A BREAK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.

S O C I A L  M E D I A. 

Do you ever take a break from social media?

What a time to be alive right?! We have everything at the touch of our fingertips. We can reach out to anyone through a DM on Insta, get instant home inspo from following #interiors, stalk the shit out of Gigi Hadid all day, watch HOURS of Jillian Harris talk to her screen, and overall spend all our time on our phones just scrolling.

Instagram is an addiction.

Just like cocaine. LOL. (i kid i kid.)

As a blogger and influencer I absolutely LOVE social media. I love the whole concept of connecting with people. I love that I can give you guys a glimpse into my daily doings. I love that I can share my skincare routine with you, my favourite restaurants, recipes, and lifestyle products that I use daily.

I love going to social media when I don’t know something, because out of 21,000+ followers SOMEONE will know the answer. And it’s super helpful when a bunch of you share your thoughts. It wonderful to get so many responses!

But here’s the thing. I’m not addicted to social media. And to be honest, not many influencers are. This is our JOB. We use social media when we need to, and we’ll get off it when we don’t need it. We need to take breaks from social media.

Most people think bloggers and influencers are on their phone all the time. We’re not. Trust me. I can put my phone away for hours and not worry about it. Because, it’s work. And who wants to be doing work 24/7? When I post on social media, it’s because it’s my job to. Don’t get me wrong – I love it. I love to share things with you guys, but what you see on social isn’t my ENTIRE life. There’s a lot I don’t share, and that’s okay. I share what makes sense to my brand, because at the end of the day, I chose this line of work. I chose to live a very public life. And I knew that going into the world of blogging, I would have to share a lot with strangers.

However, I do not let social media take over my life. I know when to put the phone away. I know when to be present when I’m with my family, friends, and Andrew.

It may seem like I’m always on my phone when you watch my Instagram Stories. So, I want to share the benefits of taking a break from social media.

1. SNAP AND SAVE

This is one of the BEST ways that you can stay present in your life. Snap the picture of your food and save it for posting later. I get it – you’re at the most CHIC restaurant, and out comes your very Instagramable meal which you must capture. Trust, me, I totally get it. But do you really need to post it that very minute? NOPE. Save it, and find time later for when you can properly post it. You may want to add a caption, or brighten up the photo? Don’t forget to tag the restaurant, and make sure your fonts and colours match your brand. All of those things take up time. This is why I just save the photo to my phone, and once I’m done enjoying my meal with whomever I’m with, I can post the picture. My absolute PET PEEVE is when I see couples or a group of friends all on their phones at dinner. Like, are you kidding me?? Have a goddamn conversation. SAVE THE POSTING FOR LATER.

2. TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS

This is HUGE. There is nothing more distracting than your phone blinking or worse, making sounds every time you get a DM or someone comments on your photo. NONONONONO! Turn. It. Off. You’ll get to it when you can. Again, I’m huge on setting aside time to look at my phone as well as taking a break from social media. There’s no need to response to DMs right away. Which brings me to my next point.

3. SET TIME ASIDE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

That’s right. Pick a couple times during the day to look at Instagram. And then give yourself a time limit. THIS ONE IS SO IMPORTANT. Because if you don’t give yourself a time limit, you will be on it for the next 3 hours. Trust meeee. Jillian Harris has a way of sucking you right into her stories. LOL. Been there, done that, and never doing that again.  As an influencer, I give myself a few times a day where I can go on Instagram, respond to DMs, respond to comments, post a few stories that I saved earlier, and move on. DO NOT SCROLL. It’s the devil.

4. STAY OFF IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND AT NIGHT

I never ever EVER wake up and start checking my phone. This goes for emails as well. That is a dark hole that you don’t want to go down. I use to do this years ago, and noticed how unproductive I was. Now, I shut my alarm off, check the weather, and then I don’t look at my phone for probably an hour to two hours. Once I’m settled in with a coffee, I will allot myself some time to emails and Instagram.

The same thing goes for social media at night. At least 30 minutes to an hour I don’t look at my phone. I’ve got my sound machine going, and a good book in hand. (Here’s what I’m currently reading). My phone goes on vibrate for the night, and Andrew and I spend some real quality time together. You CANNOT enjoy your time together and be present while you’re constantly scrolling through Instagram and responding to DMs. We love to cook dinner together, watch our Netflix show (currently obsessed with Blacklist), and just BE in the moment. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not perfect in anyway, and somedays we just have a lot going on and need to be on our phones. But we always try to be present when we can.

5. GIVE YOURSELF 48 HOURS WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

This one is a little harder, however, I’m going to try and work towards this. I find that I’m definitely less on social media on weekends. There’s always something going on on weekends, and I’m not touching my phone as often. However, on weekends, we do shoot a lot of content, and therefore I do want to capture some moments on IG. This is where the snap and save concept comes in. Snap it, save it, and post it later (after the weekend). Trust me, you will feel SO refreshed after taking a break from social media. Try being off social media for 24 hours. And then graduate to 48 hours. Being off social can actually be refreshing for your mind. Think about growing your business, read a book, spend time outdoors, write in a journal, do whatever, but get off your phone.

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Okay, there you have it.

I feel like I’ve cleared it up – Influencers/Bloggers are NOT addicted to their phones.

Are you an influencer or blogger? How often are you taking breaks from social media? Share your thoughts and tips below!

Xx, kim

+ Check out my post on What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Blogging.

+ Also, 4 Wellness Tips for Relaxing Your Mind.