Eleven days ago, I made the conscious decision to jump off social media for ten days. It was after I found myself once again scrolling on my phone instead of being present for my life. Have you been there?

It was part experiment, part desperate need to re-evaluate how I use these platforms. Do I feel my life changed after these ten days? No, not exactly. But I do have a clearer understanding of what it looks like to consciously participate in the online world of filters and hashtags.

Ideally moving forward, I want to focus on consciously using social media.

Why’d I jump off social media?

I had the convenient excuse of an upcoming surprise trip to visit my sister in the Pacific Northwest as an easy answer. It would be too easy to accidentally tag a location that gave away my secret.

But that wasn’t really it.

The reason felt a bit more embarrassing, tbh.

I’ve been feeling a bit trapped by social media lately. There’s this feeling of being held hostage by the whole thing, especially as a business owner.

Entrepreneurs – do you feel me on this?

I’ve been stuck in this cycle of posting for the algorithm instead of posting to share my soul. There’s been a crippling fear about how much I need to be posting, how engaged I need to be, and what needs to be done to keep growing my audiences. I actually allow myself to be stressed out about this!

And you know what? I’ve felt more and more disconnected from everyone, especially my audience.

What’s funnier? The more disconnected I feel, the more time I spend scrolling the photos looking for it.

It was also becoming a way to procrastinate.

Don’t really want to get on my mat? Not feeling the inspiration to write an email? Whelp, here I am again.

Scrolling.

Surprises From My Social Media Fast

Okay, I’m not proud of this, but I felt super annoyed by everyone else being on social media so much. While hanging out with friends and family, I was bothered that they weren’t being present with me.

I even mentioned this to a few times.

I’d say, “hey, can we put our phones away during the meal?” And it received awkward apologizes or heavy eyerolls.

Which is fair. I was acting a little judgy and self-righteous in my “no social media” sabbatical of a mere ten days. Which is ridiculous.

But it reminded me how important it is that we are actively working to be more present with people and less on our phones. I know I’ve been the one to check an email at lunch, but being on the other side of it, I felt like people didn’t care to be spending time with me.

Not fun.

More shocking? I kept checking my phone anyways!

I simply checked email 20x a day instead. Habits are HARD to break.

Conscious Social Media

Moving forward, I’m excited to make some changes to protect my energy around social media and step letting it hold such a grip on my life and business.

Here are my plans moving forward to enjoy social media consciously:

• Do more of what I enjoy and less of what I don’t. I don’t like Twitter, so I’m not going to do it anymore. I LOVE getting on live video and riffing about what’s on my mind – so more of that.
• Engaging only when I want to. Not because of an algorithm or for the sake of growth, but because I want to. When I comment or like something, I’ll do it sending love and gratitude, not out of a feeling that it’s what I should be doing.

• Keep scheduling time off. I love my self-care Sundays and social media doesn’t need to be a part of that. It’s also important for me to protect my time in the early morning and at night, staying away from scrolling.
• Let it feel good. Again, I love being able to connect with people all over the world and SM allows me to do so. I enjoy following other boss babes and inspirational accounts. But if I’m not vibe-ing with someone or I’m allowing myself to run into insecure comparisons with others? Time to unfollow and move on.

I am fully aware that the dopamine hits from a comment and like are REAL and addicting. Therefore, I don’t expect myself to keep up with this on my own. (I wish I had that much self-control!)

Instead, I’m setting up blockers to limit my time on each app and block off the hours I want to stay disconnected.

I’m too easily tempted. I’m human.

Social media can be amazing. It can be a useful tool for connection and getting inspired by others all over the world. It’s a great way for me to stay connected with friends, no matter where they are.

But we can use it consciously. We can set up healthy boundaries with our time and our space.

Looking for a confidence boost? Try these affirmations!

How Can You Change Up Your Social Media Game?

This is something I’m always shifting and experimenting with. It takes some bravery to admit when it becomes a problem, when it becomes unhealthy.

We always wanna believe we are more in control of these habits than we actually are.

Remember, you’re human. This shit is designed to be addicting.

Give yourself a break.

Then ask yourself, what simple change can I make to use social media more consciously?

Let me know what you come up with in the comments below.

Warrior on!