Social media is good and social media is bad. It really all depends on what you want to get out of it. If you’re catching up with friends, interacting in a healthy fashion, running your business on social media, then you’re doing it right. If you find yourself just stalking people, withdrawing, not having much to contribute, or outright plain jealous of others on social media, then you’re not doing the best way. We recommend that regardless of how you use social media since we know it’s here to stay, that you take a break once in a while to do other things that can empower you. So why should you take an occasional break from social media? Here our ten great reasons why you should!
- To focus on yourself
Stepping away from social media will allow you time to focus on yourself and your goals. When you spend too much time on social media, you get engrossed in other people’s lives and might tend to forget yours. So, taking a few days, weeks, or however long you wish from social media platforms will help you figure yourself out and work on the being a better version of yourself.
- To focus on those around you
You have actual people that live with you, or work with you, or you see in person but when social media take up most of your time, you won’t have enough time to communicate with people who are right in front of you. Social media can take up your time as you get sucked into interacting with people you don’t even know and making them the center of your world while the people you truly love and care about are neglected.
- To remember that social media is not always real
We all know that people put up the best of their lives on social media and all you see is not real, yet sometimes we get carried away by what we see. An occasional break will remind us that social media is just for entertainment and not real life. And once we keep it in mind that social media is just really pieces of the best of peoples’ lives, we get a better sense of confidence in ourselves, and gratitude for where were currently are in our own lives.
- To avoid depression
So your “friend” on social media just took an amazing trip around the world or just bought this new flashy car. What do you first do? Get a bit jealous and then congratulate them. And if you don’t feel you’re good enough compared to them, you get depressed. A break from social media helps you focus on you. And once you get a handle on how you are and what you stand for, it’s okay to get back on social media as you have a strong sense of self by then and won’t let someone else’s fake-perfect life affect your psyche.
- To reduce anxiety of being perfect
Everyone is perfect on social media. That’s the idea. But in real life, everyone is not perfect. That is also real life. When you’re stuck comparing your “not-great” life to someone else’s “great life” you live in constant anxiety to be perfect. And the anxiety to be as perfect or have what the next person has can be so real it begins to disrupt your perfectly healthy life and relationships as you’re stuck comparing other people’s lives with yours.
- To reduce overstimulation
If social media has one sad aspect, it’s the overstimulation you get sometimes by being in the community. Social media is stimulating, interesting, and sometimes staged, and if you get caught up in it, you’ll be too overstimulated to make good use of your time. Shutting down Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms once in a while allows you to filter out the noise and look within yourself to do what is best for you.
- To make friends in real life
Facebook friends, twitters followers, Instagram followers, and the whole nine yards are great but are they real friends? Try to cultivate relationships with people who are real and close to you so you have someone to turn to when you have an emergency. If all your friends are online and you don’t have anyone you know intimately enough to call and talk with, when you do need help, you’ll mostly have no one to talk with.
- To reclaim your time
Social media is a time-waster. Big time. We’re not saying that aspects of social media are bad, no, not at all, but social media can take up a significant amount of your time if you lost track of time. This will lead to time wasted reading about other people’s lives instead of building your own. This is something that can make or break you – so give yourself time off from social media so you can reclaim your time and use if for more important things.