For the month of February, I decided to try social media free Sunday, inspired by Grace. After a year that brought a lot of screen time, I wanted to take some time away and see how it made me feel. Sundays are my day to rejuvenate and get ready for the week ahead, so I thought it was the perfect day to take a break from Instagram each week.
I’ll be honest, Instagram really isn’t my social media platform of choice. I find myself often taking unintended breaks because it burns me out creatively. I personally felt that taking an intentional day off each week might would be good for me. While the majority of my traffic comes from blog posts and Pinterest, I sometimes find it hard to commit to taking time off from Instagram because it does help bring attention to posts and my brand. That being said, I also find myself going down rabbit holes on Instagram and wasting time that I often think is better spent on writing blog posts and creating content for my website.
All that to say, at the beginning of February, I thought it would be an easy goal to incorporate for the month to just say no Instagram on Sundays. One of my immediate reflections is taking a weekend day off is always a good choice because it is a lower traffic day for me on the gram. It became easier and easier each weekend as it became part of my routine and my friends also acknowledged that I was taking a break if they sent me a DM or something of interest. I appreciated that more than they may have realized.
Reflections from Social Media Free Sunday
The first Sunday, I followed Grace’s reflection and removed the app from my phone completely. It made it easier to fully commit and not accidentally open and start scrolling.
I was off of my phone a lot more. My screen time was way down on the report that my iPhone sends each week. With some of my time, I was still on my screen either doing New York Times Sudoku or reading articles, I was not mindlessly scrolling and getting lost for endless periods of time.
One of my goals for the year is to read more, so I was able to lose myself in my reading more. I also used the time to sit outside with the boys more, to plan my content a bit more thoroughly, and to journal.
Overall, I felt like I was accomplishing more of my goals on Sunday of feeling ready for the week ahead and my brain felt less busy. I make a point of doing a restorative yoga class every Sunday evening, so that combination was really helpful for me to calm the Sunday scaries.
While I had this positive experience in February, I sort of dropped off on social media less Sundays in March. Part of that is because I actually do like doing my weekly roundups on Instastories. I do this after my restorative yoga class and it is a nice way to reflect on the things that happened that brought me joy. I also was traveling a little bit, and while I was a passenger in a car, I found myself doing some mindless scrolling.
All that to say, for April, I’m going to commit to a modified version that includes staying off of Instagram until after my yoga class and then I’ll do my weekly roundup. That feels like a healthy compromise for being intentional with my time while still doing something I enjoy.
Do you take a social media free day each week? I’d love to hear your reflections below!
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Do you practice social media free Sunday? Let me know in a comment below!
