I want to take a break from social media, but I’m afraid I’ll miss out on critical information, lose touch with the people I follow, and become bored. These are your concerns if you are trying to get rid of social media for good.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of how much time you spend each day inside the soul-sucking algorithmic online playground that has become a big part of our total existence.
Even if you recognize your reliance on social media, you are unable to break free. I understand. It is difficult to let go of something that takes a significant portion of your life.
Questions We All Need To Ask Ourselves
Why am I even on social media? I believe there are two options:
First, you use social media to validate yourself. When others enjoy your postings, you seek to improve your mood by sharing images of what you do and where you go. In other words, even if your life is fantastic, you don’t feel like it’s good enough unless others tell you so.
Second, you are only an observer. I jump from post to post on the spur of the moment, absorbing but rarely sharing.
Attempting to escape the painful mediocrity of your own life by viewing the most wonderful moments of others. They finally wind up living a virtual existence devoid of any true experiences.
I’m not sure which is the worst. Trying to convince yourself that other people care about you since they love your photo.
Alternatively, the desire to avoid dealing with your unpleasant reality by doing something about it rather than engaging in the fantasy world of social media.
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I Am Sure You Can Relate To This
If you share photos on social media, you’re familiar with the dopamine high you get when others “like” or comment on your post.
While some may reject the presence of this phenomenon, research shows that most people react with excitement.
This figure has stayed stable over five years, despite headlines revealing the detrimental impacts of Facebook on adolescent mental health and the correlation of bad body image among teenage girls using Instagram.
Take The Following Scenario:
One minute you are happy and just wondering and also believing that your life is going well. You have a few minutes to kill, so you launch Instagram and begin scrolling.
First, you read a post from a buddy declaring that she has landed her ideal job. Then you scroll down and read “everyone with below 500 followers to leave Instagram”.
You continue scrolling and witness a video of your friend having a fantastic trip. And now your coworker has uploaded a before and after photo that makes you want to hide your thighs for the rest of your life.
Before you know it, you’re already second-guessing your job, upset with your poor followers, wondering why you can’t afford a vacation, and researching the next diet you’ll attempt. For some, social media has become an emotional roller coaster of comparison, perfection, and differing viewpoints.
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The Algorithm Has A Role To Play
Social media algorithms are meant to keep you coming back, and quitting is a difficult task. This is one of the biggest reasons people do not quit, even though it contributes to bad body image, insomnia, higher anxiety, and decreased productivity.
Most of us don’t realize how addicted we are until we try to quit utilizing our social media sites.
Nevertheless, I have excellent news: quitting social media is not only possible, but it also benefits your general mental health. While initially uncomfortable, this pain tends to fade rapidly.
The advantages of avoiding social media are enormous. Not only is your time saved, but so is your attention, which is significantly more valuable.
If you’re on the fence about utilizing social media – and I’m guessing you are because you’re reading this – 10 Excellent Reasons To Avoid Social Media, but before we go into this, I will share my story and the massive benefit I gain by
eliminating social media for a year.
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Deleting Social Media Changed My Life After Just 1 Year: My Story
On my birthday three years ago, I chose to close my social media accounts. As a member of the social media generation, this was not as simple as uninstalling a few apps.
My identity, friendships, and spare time were all heavily influenced by social media.
Instagram had taken the role of the playground as a place to catch up and share laughs, and the concept of flirting without a snap streak was foreign to me. I was totally and fully addicted. I’d lie in bed late at night scrolling aimlessly, in my autopilot states a phone in hand.
I opted to remove my social media accounts for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I was battling; mentally dealing with day-to-day existence. My anxiety was hampering my ambitions and negatively impacting my social life.
I’d heard anecdotal evidence that disconnecting from social media improved people’s mental health, so I decided to prioritize my mental health and give it a shot.
The second reason was that I had previously attempted and failed to decrease my use of social media. This terrified me to death. As someone with an addictive personality, I’ve always taken additional precautions to ensure that my vices don’t turn into addictions.
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I Learned More From Life In General
The main benefit is the improvement in mental clarity. Consumption of primarily relevant information has occurred as a result of the lack of dependence on mindless scrolling through mindless articles. My profession requires a lot of thought, clarity, and expertise, which has increased productivity.
My motivation seemed to increase after deleting social media. I am physically stronger than I have ever been, my anxiety is at an all-time low, I have maintained consistency with my hobbies and aspirations, and I have grown more self-assured and empowered.
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Quitting Social Media: 10 Advantages of Not Using It
What will occur if you choose the unusual course is as follows. the absence of social media. a way of life where you proudly face tedium. the unhappiness caused by not having anything to do.
1. Reduced Stress Brought On By Constant Comparison:
“Ada just bought a new human hair wig. Kunle received a promotion in a significant oil company. Favor, a high school acquaintance who I seldom ever see, is on the road once more. And I’m here. I’m sitting in my modest rental home. Darkness is present. Sweating. I am immobile. I’m perplexed as to why my life is so unimpressive.
Whether we realize it or not, we constantly contrast ourselves with others. This is a trait that all people possess. While it’s true that social media often serves as a highlight reel of users’ lives, this shouldn’t make you feel unworthy or unsatisfied with your own circumstances.
Although it is uncommon to post about divorce, sadness, or struggle, those things nonetheless occur. It might be time to take a vacation if you find it difficult to remember that no one’s life is flawless, regardless of what they share.
Social comparison, or comparing oneself to a fictionalized image of another person on social media, makes people think that other people there are happier and have better lives than they do. Because of this, making comparisons can result in low self-esteem, resentment, and envy, which can have detrimental psychological effects like depression.
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2. You Stop Engaging In Activities You Find Unpleasant.
Recognize that your true motivation for traveling isn’t to see every country on the planet. Because all of your pals have the unattainable dream of touring the world, you’re doing it. Peer pressure has several advantages.
If you observe your buddies exercising every day, you’ll probably be inspired to do the same. Yet, let’s be honest, those who are overly eager.
Social media is rarely used by self-help nerds. People are aware of the benefits of quitting social media. By giving up social media, we may concentrate on our own lives and self. for us, on what is real. We can develop self-acceptance skills to increase our happiness, self-love, and self-compassion.
3. You Become More Social
Social media can be an excellent tool for staying in touch with friends and family, but using it excessively at the expenhurtters can have a negative efwell-beingelationships and general well-being.
We are so preoccupied with news and information that we neglect to live in the moment with the people we care about.
Loneliness is a result of our tendency to separate ourselves and our failure to establish the required relationships with others and ourselves.
Once you’ve recovered from the realization the of your followers weren’t really friends, you’ll learn to appreciate those that check in with you and want to physically spend time with you.
This boosts self-esteem and provides a sense of belonging to a genuine group rather than a virtual, and sometimes hostile, one. On a deeper and psychologically healthy level, you sense this truth.
Instagram and Facebook make you feel unauthentically connected. Although it’s merely dust in your eyes, you may believe that you are engaging with others.
The presence of others is not felt by you. Emoticons and carefully chosen texts are sent to you. You want real conversations after deleting your social media accounts and the phony relationships.
Naturally, you’ll want to socialize. See them in person rather than just talking to them.
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4. You Stop Obsessing Over Others
Your mind starts to covet a product the moment you see someone else buying it online. You think about this even if you don’t need it. Other products you don’t have will come up for consideration in your mind as you browse more posts. We shift the load when you picture yourself owning this and believing it will be the solution to all of your issues.
The more flawless bodies you view, the more imperfections you discover in your own body. Very naturally, you start to feel terrible about yourself and lose all of your perceived attractiveness. Social media turns into a perilous feedback loop where you’re continually reminded of what you lack and who you’re not.
As far as I know, people only upload their finest photos online. And since everything you see when “connected” with others is excellent. Perfect becomes the standard. You urgently want to achieve the same level of perfection in your life, but when you don’t, you feel inadequate.
Only by detaching yourself from this ideal can you discover peace and joy in the imperfection that is a part of everyone’s existence. When you observe someone buying something online, your mind begins to need that product. Even if you don’t require it, you think about it.
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5. Your Productivity and Presence Will Improve.
Nobody realizes how much time is wasted by innocent scrolling, routine checking of their accounts, and answers to postings, all of which interrupt their job.
You will have much more time with less distraction without social media, and when you finish your work faster, you have more time to spend with good friends, sleep, go to the gym, or do other activities that enrich the meaning of your life.
You aren’t thinking, “Gosh, certainly I have new likes on my photo, I should check so I can feel good,” thus you aren’t thinking that. You pay attention to what you’re doing without always interrupting your flow.
You can get calmer by removing the ideas of what “I might be losing out on.” greater grounding more pronounced and more concentrated on “what I’m doing now”
You appreciate one another’s company rather than going out with a friend so you can both gaze at your phones.
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6. It Can Improve Your Sleep.
Although it’s very common, sleeping with your phone can disrupt your normal sleeping patterns. Artificial light can prevent your body from producing melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep.
A 2020 study discovered that nocturnal social media use is motivated by FOMO, or the fear of missing out, which results in sleep disruptions and difficulty. Also, a study conducted in 2021 with 132 participants indicated that restricting social media use for a week enhanced wellbeing by avoiding sleep issues.
The authors do point out that teenagers who were already quite active on social media may have declined to take part in the study because they were hesitant to curtail their use. Our devices’ blue light disturbs our sleep.
Also, people who often check their social media accounts frequently experience more sleep problems. Close the computer, put the phone down, and log out to prevent this. Also, you can enable the “do not disturb” setting on your phone every evening.
7. Eye Strain Will Be Reduced
Although using social media alone doesn’t cause eye strain, spending too much time on a computer, smartphone, or other devices might impair your vision. Almost 50% of computer users have digital eye strain, according to the National Eye Institute.
Moreover, digital eye strain can result in a variety of issues, including headaches, impaired vision, dry eyes, and pain in the neck and shoulders. You should log off of the computer and leave social media to lessen the impact of DES.
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8. You Focus On Yourself
Seeing what other people are doing occupies a significant chunk of social media scrolling. But how does admiring others’ gorgeous lives help you live a better life of your own? In a nutshell, no, it doesn’t. By cutting yourself off from social media, you can develop perspective and self-awareness.
By disconnecting from social media, you may spend more time interacting with people and less time worrying about your phone. You consider past events and observe the intricacies of life that were missed when your head was buried in your phone. These flashbacks and viewpoint shifts improve your emotional intelligence and open up new connections between you and others.
The most essential relationship you have is with yourself, and when you spend most of your time pleasing your social media feed, you cannot develop a good relationship with yourself.
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9. You Focus On Your Goals
Giving up social media eliminates the impulse to follow your online friends’ lead. It’s fantastic when you stop craving to look at images of random people. You begin to consider what you truly want from life.
You begin to pursue your own impulses after there are no longer any photos to like or accounts to follow. You use the time you previously squandered (on) watching how other people live their lives to designing the life you want.
10. You Stop Consuming And Start Doing
No amount of Twitter threads or Instagram carousels will improve your skills as a programmer, manager, author, or startup founder. You can only get better if you actually use the online advice you’ve been saving with such fervor.
If you ever start, concentrating on the conserving portion will prevent you from moving further. I don’t want to absorb other people’s lives, tell yourself. In order to live a life worth living. Why not make something deserving of following using the methods that made people famous and valuable and which we so religiously follow?
Conclusion
The most common cause of pain for contemporary men is boredom. Social media websites are so well-liked and difficult to stop using because of this.
You only need to move your finger to access their never-ending streams of uplifting feelings.
I believe that giving up social media is the wisest course of action because of this. Finding something else to do when you have nothing to do is the best remedy. You will be able to establish healthy daily habits that increase your energy levels and improve your mood after you are free of the unneeded stress and anxiety that come with social media.
What are the advantages of removing social media?
Improved sleep.
Stress is reduced.
Prevents sadness, anxiety, and other forms of psychological suffering.
Improves mental health.
Reduces anxiousness.
How has removing social media changed my life?
I don’t do much brain crap without social media. My time is spent reading books, caring for my body and life, growing my blogging business, and going to therapy. My mind is solely filled with information and attitudes that improve my life (and the world).
