How to do a Social Media Detox

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Psychologists and mental health professionals all agree taking a break from social media – even if it is just for a day – can be beneficial not only for our minds, but also help increase productivity. Studies have shown the more time you spend on social media, the more likely you are to develop depression, or anxiety. Stars such as Nicki Minaj, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid have all taken a break from social media to help clear their heads, or when they have a busy workload, but what steps should you take when planning to unplug and just what benefits can you on hope to reap?

Haven't really been on Instagram all day and I have to say it felt SO good! Instagram can be so time-consuming and keep you from doing other stuff and being productive. And not just that, it can become such an unhealthy obsession and it's on your mind like all the time. Sometimes I don't even wanna go on Instagram but then my fingers just open the app automatically, scary. The reason for my absence was that @francisque_s visited me yesterday night and we were just talking, talking and talking all night long until 5 in the morning.🙊😅 And today we just did the same, just chilling and talking all day.. after having a huge amount of pancakes for breakfast.😂 So grateful for all these wonderful new connections I've made this year.✨ Hope you had a wonderful day as well!❤ . . . #unplug#socialmedia#instagram#instagrambreak#socialmediadetox#socialmediaaddiction#cozysaturda#weekend#newconnections#asaturdaywellspent#putdownyourphone#obsession#addictivebehaviour#patterns#adayoff#socialmediabreak#inspiration#reallife#motivation#livinginthemoment#bepresent#latenighttalks#relaxingday#havingabreak#thinkaboutit#importanttopic

A post shared by Alex, 29. German ⚛ Vegan (@plantifulalexandra) on Dec 16, 2017 at 8:58am PST

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the following questions, you could probably benefit from a social media break:
You find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media instead of engaging in conversation with friends and family.
You find yourself feeling irritated when reading posts and comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You feel deflated if your posts don’t get as many likes as you had hoped.
Your ‘To Do’ list gets longer and longer, yet you feel you don’t have the time to accomplish anything because you spend so much time on social media.
You feel jealousy and envy when seeings posts from people you know who appear to have a more fun-filled life than you. Sometimes you feel as though your life is not as exciting as those around you. Remember that people are generally posting their best moments and looks to social media. Rarely are you seeing the nitty gritty monotony of daily life played out on Facebook or Instagram!
You find yourself staging certain events, or pictures during your day just to post them to social media.
You have a fear of missing out on something important if you don’t check social media.

➕Something that @mummas_health_hub posted yesterday resonated with what I'm trying to achieve too. I'm so glad you wrote what you did Jem as we need to talk about stuff like this more often so we lose the stigma of feeling not good enough. You are enough 👊🏻💋 ➕ Topic: Your purpose. You can sometimes get so wrapped up in making others happy or doing what you think you should do that you forget why you started in the first place! ➕ When you send many hours on social media to network and grow both you brand and friends, you can get sucked so deep inside the pixels you forget to take a breath. You can go along on autopilot until something feels wrong. ➕ I know we throw the word FOMO around but it does sum up that feeling that you must be everything to everyone and everywhere everyone else is at all times! 🤣 It is exhausting and can make you stressed trying to keep up. ➕ I created these social media detox affirmation cards for this exact reason. @mummas_health_hub I'll post you some 👍🏻 ➕ If you need to, press pause. Everyone who matters will be there for you and everyone else isn't worth hanging onto anyway. Make yourself a priority ❤️ ➕ #takingabreakfromfomo #socialmedialife #fomobegone #lifestyleblogger #mentalhealthmatters #yourpurpose #presspause #mindfulness #practisemindfulness #positivethinking #myworthisnotmeasuredbyfollowers #socialmediadetox #socialmediaaffirmation #yourmindmatters #letstalkmentalhealth

A post shared by Bo&Bel® Mind Full To Mindful (@bo.and.bel) on Mar 1, 2018 at 10:33am PST

Tips on How to Unplug
Start Small
Start by erasing social media apps from your phone for a couple of hours to start with. From there move to a day free of social media, or from posting something before taking a whole weekend to allow yourself to detox from checking Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Set a Time to Check
Allow yourself a certain time each day to check social media and stick to it. Fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon should be enough to give you your social media fix.
Seek Help From Friends
Let your good friends know you will be participating in a social media detox and to text you instead of tagging you on Facebook etc. You may be surprised to find out they want to join you in your mission!
Reward Yourself
Oftentimes we reach for social media when we are bored, so choose instead to fill your time with things you love to do. Pick out a good book to read, go for a walk, spend time with a good friend, take an art class, or try out a new restaurant.
Take a Challenge
Pinterest is full of printables you can access which break down detoxing from social media into daily challenges.

Let's start the challenge 😚 #socialmediadetoxchallenge #bulletjournal #bujo2018 #journalsandplanners #plannercommunityph #bujo

A post shared by Malen Abella (@malen_abella) on Feb 28, 2018 at 3:24pm PST

Detoxing from social media may seem tough at first, but once you conquer the initial steps you will reap the benefits of more free time, increased privacy, mood improvement and the chance to reconnect with the real world.

Just got back from a 3-day SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX. and I learned something true: 1. That being OFFLINE is sometimes the new LUXURY!!! 2. If you DISCONNECT from your virtual life, you will be RECONNECTED to the simple human life! 3. If you strip people of technology, you'll see what's left. 4. That we now live in an era of sophisticated internet tools and smart phones but more stupid people. 5. That we deal with two lives: Virtual life and Human life. But only HUMAN LIFE is truely IMPORTANT! P.S. – I'll do this more often. There are other means of communication anyway! 😉 #SocialMediaDetoxChallenge #reality #beinspired #bepositive #livelife #besimpleandfree #notfake #true #inmyopinion

A post shared by Almsjen Trazo (@almsjen) on Apr 8, 2016 at 11:38pm PDT