Taking Time Away From Social Media

Image courtesy Instagram

Is social media distracting you from your goals? Do you find yourself scrolling for hours on end? Did you screenshot every meme that made you laugh? Are you checking your feed every two seconds?

I get it Social Media is a form of entertainment for most of us. For others a stream of income and marketing tool for businesses and creative projects. But are you using social media as a tool to learn and earn an income or is it distracting you from real life achievements? I guess that’s a question only we can answer for ourselves.

I recently checked on a friend and during our phone call she mentioned she had been sitting in the same spot on the couch scrolling Instagram for hours, but had a multitude of chores to do.  She was willing to push off some important tasks for the next day because she was not eager to get up and get started. I loved that she was aware of this yet still was comfortable doing it.

I resonated with that feeling and had been in that situation plenty of times. It’s like I get warped into scrolling so much it becomes addictive. I am not sure if subconsciously I am using it to avoid doing tasks that I dread or if it’s a mini escape from my reality. I remember feeling so guilty after scrolling for hours on end and not accomplishing my goals for the day. Often so guilty I would deactivate my social media pages and take long breaks to what I call “get my life together”.

My therapist shed some light on the benefits of scrolling social media. She calls it “Info Snacking”.  Info Snacking isn’t necessarily a negative thing because in the process of scrolling on social media we are learning new things, viewing content that is thought provoking, and sharing ideas with strangers. It is a time to connect with millions of people we might not have access to in our daily travels. Using social media more intentionally would aid in our growth and if we are entrepreneurs it would assist in building our empires. Social Media could be our best friend if used wisely.

So, scrolling for hours on end isn’t necessarily a drawback, I use that time to learn and fill my mind with things that interest me. After all it is therapeutic to log on and laugh at some nonsense after a long emotionally draining day. However, taking a mini cyber break and reminding ourselves to stay grounded in real life is necessary. Some of us cannot take long extended breaks but logging off for a few hours should be something we commit to doing. The awareness of time spent online is helpful and like anything in life too much of it isn’t good. Or is it?!