Break

Last week, June 11th – June 14th, I took a break. My break was from social media and was extremely needed. I also took a step back from messaging and being on my phone all together as well. I made a post on both my Facebook and Instagram accounts and then I shut off notifications to both. Once or twice a day, I opened the apps and checked my notifications for any from my business pages then I closed them again. No scrolling, no checking stories or looking for new posts from certain people. My usage shocked me; I went from an hour or 2 a day on both platforms to 30 minutes or less.

On my post I shared before my break, I said I would be “back” on Monday the 15th. When Monday came, I did not feel the urge to jump right back into my social media use. I checked my notifications on Facebook, searched for a family member who was married over the weekend so I could see their photos, and I posted on my business page. I did even less than that on Instagram; checked notifications, watched a couple stories of other mom’s I follow, and that was it. As of this post, I have not turned notifications back on. I found that when I would get a notification I would check it then scroll away, so trying to limit my “need” to do that.

Since my break and lack of notifications, I have noticed my anxiety and worry has diminished. It is still there but not as bad as it was prior. And this, along with being even more focused and present for my daughter, means more to me than staying up to date on other people and their lives they choose to share. I am going to keep my social media accounts for my Chalk Couture but I am going to leave my notifications off as well as start to unfollow those who I have noticed, in the past, cause an increase in my anxiety or cause me to feel a certain way negatively. No time for that here. With everything going on, I realized I want to surround myself with more positivity and happiness than ever before.