It's Time for a Social Media Detox!
By Sara Butler
Social media is a great thing. It makes it so simple to stay connected with the people and things in your life that you care about. But as you may have noticed over the last few months or so, there’s a definite downside to social media. It may help to keep you connected but it can also be a major drain on your mental and emotional health. Studies on social media use have yielded some interesting results. Adults that spend two or more hours on social media a day are more likely to be socially isolated than those who use it less. Here’s how you can do a social media detox but still keep your true friends and family close!
Have Others Join You
If you’re going to drastically cut down the time you spend on social media or cut it out completely for a little bit in order to give yourself a break, then recruit some friends and family to join you. This can help you to stay accountable during your digital detox when you find your finger hovering over that Facebook icon on your smartphone. Having real contact with other people will help you stay stronger – and you may even find it strengthens your relationships more than social media ever could.
Set Realistic Expectations
Have you ever tried to quit anything cold turkey? It can be difficult. Don’t create an impossible situation for yourself when you’re creating benchmarks for your social media cleanse. Setting hard rules for yourself will only make you feel guilty if you slip up and you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life!
You should make a commitment to decrease your usage little by little, one site at a time. Ease into it and you may find that it’s much easier to do. Do this for about two weeks and then you may find that changes you have made stick around for good.
Purge Your Follows
Do you really need to follow all those accounts people have for their pets? Sure, the videos are funny, but they’re only adding to the problem. Take a hard look at the people and pages you follow and decide if you really need them or not. This will help to keep you sane and keep your stress levels manageable.
A social media detox may be tough at first, but you'll be glad you did it in the end!
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Columbus, Ohio.