Finding Joy In Unplugging From Social Media

Welcome to the Finding Joy series! Here I will be sharing activities that help me to find joy in my life despite whatever my current situation may be. My hope is that you can also find joy in your life. Whether it be through any of these activities I share, or hobbies and experiences that you love.

In the month of July I decided to do something I never thought I would do. I unplugged from social media for a whole month. This was a big deal for three reasons: 1) 90% of my friends I know through social media, 2) Social media is basically part of my job as a blogger and freelancer, and 3) I get the worst FOMO.  The first two weeks didn’t go the smoothest, but by the third week I really started to feel a difference and started reaping the benefits. I also got COVID during that time so I had to distract myself a lot more than usual.

Why I Did This

You may be wondering why I decided to do this, especially given all that I was giving up. To be honest, I didn’t really put much thought into it. I had unplugged from social media before, but only for a few days straight. The idea came to me in late June and something in me told me to do this for a month. So I went for it. I’m glad I did because it gave me time to really get unplugged. I took a lot away from this month of very limited/no social media.Next up I’ll tell you some of the benefits I noticed by the end of the month.

5 Benefits I Experienced When I Unplugged From Social Media

I read more books

I’ve been in a reading rut for a while now. It’s just something I never made much time for, even though I wanted to. I have a goal to read 26 books by the end of the year and I wasn’t even halfway there yet. Since I had more free time and fewer distractions, I finally started to read more. During the month of June, I read 3 books. For the previous two or three months, I was lucky if I finished one book. I’m happy to say that, even though I’m back on social media, I’m still making time to read.

I got clearer on where I’m at

I did a lot of reflecting on where my life is currently and where I want it to be while I unplugged from social media. While this isn’t typically out of the norm for me to do, I went a little deeper this time. I got clear on the dreams I have and what it’s going to take to get there. It got me inspired to take action in ways I never have before. I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on because of this new vision.

I wasn’t glued to my phone all day

This is a given benefit to giving up social media. I will say though, I could have done better in this area. I sort of replaced social media with games on my phone. This definitely defeated the purpose of staying off my phone. I called myself out several times through the month. Despite that, I still ended up spending less time on my phone overall through the month.

My creative block disappeared 

This was my favorite benefit that came from last month. It was unexpected, but needed. I ended the month with so many ideas not only for this blog, but also new products, projects, and maybe even a new business. The coming months are going to be fun exploring all of this. I’ve got great things in store for Budding Joy that I can’t wait to share with you.

I got more sleep

I mostly credit this to being sick half the month, but having no social media also helped. Instead of going to bed between 2-3 am I found myself in bed around 12:30 am at the latest most nights. I won’t say it has stayed like this, but I definitely have continued going to sleep a little earlier some nights. I’m hoping this continues and gets better because I know sleep is a healthy habit and an important part of your health.

Tips For Doing Your Own Unplug Month

To close this post out, I want to leave you with a few tips and things to consider to help you start your own unplug month.

• Determine what you do on your phone the most. You don’t necessarily have to unplug from social media. It can be anything like games, streaming services, and online shopping to name a few.
• Choose a time period and start date that is going to set you up for success. This will help you have an easier time adjusting to being on your phone less if you know you aren’t missing something. For example. I wouldn’t make it a goal to not do any online shopping in the month of November.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself, but don’t give up. If you mess up and get on your phone to shop, scroll, whatever you’re unplugging from, don’t get upset. Recognize that you did it, remind yourself why you are deciding to unplug, then get back to it. You don’t have to give up because of one or two slip ups.

As you can tell I enjoyed being unplugged from social media. I also learned a lot about myself and my habits. I truly did find joy in doing this. I hope that if you decide to unplug you find joy as well.