No Social Media For A Year
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How my life has changed, how I have changed
I am a life and sobriety coach. I help people quit things in a way that feels good. I have quit many things including, of course, alcohol, cigarettes, dying my hair, wearing makeup, and most recently — social media.
I first quit social media in February 2022 by committing to a week off and a few days into my initial break from social media, I decided that I was never going back. In that first week alone, the 11 hours that I wasn’t on social media allowed me to read books, take walks, be present with my family, and experience some much-needed head space.
The reason I quit social media in the first place was that my social media use had started to feel like my drinking did before I quit that. In other words, taking up far too much space in my head, making me feel rubbish about myself, taking me away from my family, disrupting my sleep, and taking far more than it was giving.
The final straw came when I was so concerned about finding a beautiful spot for an Instagram selfie that I got too close to a cliff edge.
Social Media is Addictive
I know that social media is addictive. And not just because I read that social media algorithms use slot machine technology to keep us hooked, But because of my own experiences, conversations with other people, and the fact that everyone knows that social media is addictive, of course, we do but still we use it even when it makes us feel bad. Again, a striking similarity to alcohol use.
I run an online business, I am a life and sobriety coach, so on the one hand I was very concerned that I was leaning towards addictive behaviour with my social media use, but on the other hand, I really believed that I needed to be in all the places all the time in order to ‘be visible’ and ‘reach clients.’ However, deep down I knew that I wasn’t acting in true alignment with my values and beliefs.
It felt really good to take the plunge and just commit to a break. Much like before I stopped drinking, I wouldn’t really know what it was like until I gave it a go. I had to try. One year later, I’m so glad I took the step.
