Lessons from a Digital Detox
I wouldn’t say that the business I’ve built is entirely dependent upon social media, but it’s a pretty integral part of what I have built: or at least that is how it seems.
I started as a blogger eleven years ago and slowly migrated to Instagram as my mainstay for connection and community. It became my creative outlet and from there I started to build Rise.Run.Retreat.
Using social media to get the word out (aka marketing) about Rise.Run.Retreat.’s events has always been crucial, plus I just like the platform. It’s fun and I love the real life connections I’ve made. But after re-reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport [his TED talk is compelling as well] and watching the Social Dilemma I realized that I wanted a break.
And so I took a 30-day digital detox during the month of December, I logged off, took the Instagram app off my phone (Facebook and Twitter are already off my phone) and hit pause.
I was worried that with this big pause I’d lose ground, but quite the opposite happened.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions I made in 2020.
What I Learned
Not much changed. I was so worried about the negative impact a month away from social would have and quite honestly, it had very little impact. Sure all my stats read -100% and I lost a few followers, but those things have never really been the reason I’ve been on social media. I pay attention to them, but only marginally and so honestly it didn’t matter
Social Media = Mental Clutter. As soon as I signed off and it was as if someone turned off a loud and constant noise that had been in the background for some time. It was quiet and still and my mind loved it. I was more creative and more productive in the 30-day period than I’ve been in a while. Clearing out the mental clutter allowed me to think critically, creatively and more in tune with myself.
Anxiety and Worry Subside. Social media can be a big source of anxiety, it is a form of media afterall and the constant dribble of information isn’t necessarily healthy. Add to that the fact that the algorithm favors the most outrageous content, compelling us to respond to what we see. Seth Godin has a great post on this HERE and the documentary the Social Dilemma covers this well. We know too much and what we know is so outrageous we’re driven to conflict and contention instead of cooperation and collaboration.
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What I am Doing Differently
To be totally honest, I’m not sure I would have logged back on if it weren’t for the businesses and communities I’ve built around social media (I’m in the process of trying to change that). It lost a bit of its appeal. I know that there are businesses out there that function quite well without social media, but for now it is still a key component to how I get the word out about what I’m doing.
I knew I would come back, but I wanted to come back with intention so I sat down and asked myself:
What’s the purpose?
What are the constraints?
Purpose.
If you don’t have a purpose it’s easy to get distracted. So I honed in on the purpose of being on social and it is rooted in building community and connection. Ultimately, I wrote:
“The purpose of my Instagram presence is to form relationships with people, make authentic connections and foster collaboration so that the Rise.Run.Retreat., RISE + RUN Collective and Runpreneur Academy communities can grow and thrive.”
Constraints.
When you create deliberate limitations you often elevate the purpose of an action. Constraints also force creativity. I set out a few guidelines for myself that will act as limiting factors when it comes to social media, they are already forcing me to think and act critically, which ultimately will increase the value of what I do create.
What I noticed when I came back.
Squirrel. Despite logging on with a very clear list of what I was going to do first (respond to DM’s and comments etc), I was immediately distracted by the posts in my feed. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked, but still it reinforced the idea that these platforms were designed to capture our attention and keep it for a long period of time (we are the product after all). Proof that maybe we aren’t as good as resisting these distractions as we think we are.
Have you ever taken a long social media break or sworn it off forever?
-Sarah