I’m excited to provide periodic updates on how it’s going throughout my year off social media. To be honest, I am doing that in large part for my own sake! I want to mark this time in real time, when my feelings are sharper and not dulled by having to think back over a year. Like I’ve said before, writing is how I process, and this is an experience I really want to honor by processing regularly.

I’ve been off all social media since December 20th, so I’m about a month into this thing.

I have had so many people reach out and tell me several things in response to leaving social media for this year:

I’m thinking of doing the same thing! I’m so over this! But I’m a little hesitant to pull the plug.

How exactly are you going to go about being off social media long term? What does that look like? Are you still going to use _____ app?*

How do you feel? Is it hard? Do you miss it?

*I answered those questions in this post! just scroll down a bit.

Here’s how I’m feeling so far.

Overwhelmingly, I feel so glad, thankful, and happy I walked towards the inclination to shelf social media for an extended time and not be afraid of what I might miss out on.

I want to shout, “THE WATER’S GREAT OUT HERE! JUMP IN!”

I feel relief.

For someone who deals with anxiety, I can tell you with 100% sincerity that I already feel significant relief in my day-to-day from anxiety since being completely off social media. There is something about it not even being an option and not even being on my horizon that has been a release for me.

I think I lived with this constant feeling of needing to “catch up.” First, to catch up on what others are doing, and also, to catch up in the sense that if I am not active in posting, I fall behind in people’s eyes. I regularly felt behind. Now I mostly feel present and content.

Right now, all I feel is this total permission to live my life. I actually feel a little choked up typing that out. There is no one I’m comparing myself to, and nothing I feel like I need to prove. I feel freer in my mothering, homemaking, and friendship pursuit.

I’m reading the Scriptures more.

I am sleeping more soundly, and enjoying my evenings and mornings in bed without my phone.

I feel like I have more time to enjoy my home and not just feel burdened by it.

More reading books and magazines, and drinking cups of hot tea.

I feel more in tune with my own true emotions, reactions, and opinions, instead of always carrying others’ emotions and opinions and judging mine against theirs.

My phone is just not out or around as much. I love thinking about that in terms of Griffin’s early experiences with me!

I still take pictures! And I’m actually excited to take real pictures on my long-forgotten and dusty REAL camera!

I care less about what people might think about what I’m doing or making, or how I’m spending my time.

I’ve been greatly encouraged by recent words I’ve listened to from some of my favorite speakers/teachers.

I felt all the more confirmed that the decision to take the year off social media is a positive, powerful, and worthwhile one. Here are some of those resources!

Shawn Bolz - The 3 Biggest Blocks to Hearing God’s Voice
Shawn touches on how screen time can take up the same space inside of us as God’s voice, and how too much of it can inhibit our ability to hear His voice at any given time. I loved that! The whole video is great and worth watching.
Christine Caine - 2021 Is Your Year
Christine similarly had some fantastic truth bombs about just getting off your dang phone and living out your life and your calling! She speaks with such authority and gives a loving kick-in-the-pants and I highly recommend watching the whole video.
Our Shared Unsharing - Article by Stella Bugbee on The Cut
My friend Em recently shared this on her blog, and WOW. I’m not very articulate when it comes to extremely well-written and well-thought-out articles, but all I can say is that reading this was a serious treat because it put words to things I have felt and known, many of them (really smart-sounding) reasons why I felt the pull to leave socials, particularly IG, all together.

And here are some of the potholes that have popped up that I hadn’t considered ahead of time.

As you know, I came into this with a healthy amount of trepidation and considerations for things I would genuinely miss. But there have been a few rogue things that I didn’t see coming.

Facebook Marketplace
Mere days into being off socials I went to peruse my beloved Marketplace… except I couldn’t. I’d have to log into Facebook! And that is against my rules for myself! Not only do I love to purchase from Marketplace but I frequently sell there too. It’s part of my rhythm of keeping an orderly home and sticking to our budget. So, I think other than the obvious alternate of Craigslist (which just isn’t as good) I’ll keep thrifting in person, and will allow myself 1 monthly shop/sell on Marketplace. A limited timeframe will help keep scrolling to a minimum, and I should have a clearer idea of items I need to look for.
Client Research
For each one of my writing clients, I spend a significant amount of time deep-diving into their existing online platforms, including all their social media platforms. I get to know their existing “voice” to their followers, check out all the hashtags they frequently use, and check out the other businesses they follow and interact with. Well, you can’t deep dive into someone else’s socials without being logged into an account yourself, so, I’ve decided to use an older account of mine to do all my client social media research. Not the cleanest, but it’ll prevent the temptation to see what people are up to!
Getting peoples’ contact information
I tried my best before leaving to message people I interact with frequently on social media to get their numbers if I didn’t already have it. But man, I have thought of several people I want to contact and realized after the fact I didn’t have their number! I’ll reach out to mutual friends first, and don’t have an issue logging back in to message for their numbers. That’s just the best option for long-haul social media freedom.

I’d love to hear from you. Does any of this resonate with you? Do you have a current rhythm in place for your social media use?

I’ll keep ya updated on how it’s going!

Feeling more happily human by the day,

Sam

P.S. Looking for more tips on how to keep your tech habits healthy? I’ve got two other great posts for you: How To Take A Social Media Break and Creating Balanced Rhythms with your Tech

On Being Off Socials - How it's Going So Far!