How to Take a Break from Social Media
Decide how long you want to take a break from social media., Choose when to take a break., Choose the networks you want to take a break from., Develop a schedule to gradually cut back on your social media use., Let your friends and family know...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Decide how long you want to take a break from social media.
There’s no right or wrong period of time you should spend off of social media.
The choice is entirely yours.
You could choose to spend 24 hours off of social media, or you might spend 30 days off social media (or more).Don’t feel locked into the period of time you’ve decided to stay off social media.
If you get to the end of your social media-free period and find you wish to continue your break, do so.
On the other hand, you can also shorten your social media break if you feel that you’ve accomplished whatever it is you wanted to accomplish by taking a social media break. -
Step 2: Choose when to take a break.
The best time to take a break from social media is during family vacations and holidays.
This will give you and your family the opportunity to spend time each other in conversation rather than engaging in social media exchanges.But you might also take a break from social media if you need to commit all your attention to someone or something – for instance, when working on a school project.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed due to bad news and political mudslinging on social media, you might also take a social media break.
You can look for clues that this is happening to you.
For example, do you feel irritable after looking at social media? Do you fixate on things that you saw and think about them for the rest of the day? Do you have trouble focusing afterward? If so, then you probably need to take a break. , Taking a social media break could mean a cessation of all social media use, or it could mean taking a break only from certain networks.
For instance, perhaps you temporarily quit Facebook and Twitter, but stay on Instagram.There are no right or wrong ways to choose the networks you wish to take a break from.
A good way to start the selection process, though, is to think about your reasons for desiring a social media break, and then take a break from the network or networks that will most directly allow you to achieve those goals.
You can also just log out of these sites and applications on your computer and phone.
Having to log in every time you visit the site or use the app may reduce the chance that you will check them whenever you get bored or distracted. , For instance, if you plan on taking a social media break between Christmas and New Year’s Day, work to reduce your social media use in the period prior to Christmas.
Start cutting back about 10 days before you intend to take your break.
The amount by which you cut back depends on how much you use social media.For instance, if you use social media for two hours daily, cut your social media use back to
1.5 hours 10 days prior to your break.
Then, seven days before you plan on initiating your social media break, cut down to one hour daily.
Four days prior to your break, cut back to 30 minutes daily. , During your period of decreasing social media use, you might want to let your friends and social media followers know that you will soon be taking a social media break.
This will let people know why you aren’t answering their messages and prevent them from worrying once your social media break begins.It will also help to keep you accountable whenever you pull out your phone and start to open the app.
If you wish, you could schedule posts to appear even while you’re taking a break., Without a good cause, you will have a hard time maintaining time away from social media.
There are many reasons you might want to temporarily quit social media.
Perhaps you want more time with your friends and family.
Perhaps you are tired of using it every day.
Whatever your reason, be able to clearly articulate it so that you can answer people who ask – because they ‘’will’’ ask.You may also want to keep a list handy to remind yourself why you are taking a break from social media.
It’s also important to be able to identify why you want a social media break in order to stay strong when you start to feel that you do not want to continue.
In those moments, you can remind yourself, “No, I refuse to use social media until my designated break period ends because I want to spend more time with my family.” -
Step 3: Choose the networks you want to take a break from.
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Step 4: Develop a schedule to gradually cut back on your social media use.
-
Step 5: Let your friends and family know you’ll be taking a break.
-
Step 6: Remind yourself why you are taking a break.
Detailed Guide
There’s no right or wrong period of time you should spend off of social media.
The choice is entirely yours.
You could choose to spend 24 hours off of social media, or you might spend 30 days off social media (or more).Don’t feel locked into the period of time you’ve decided to stay off social media.
If you get to the end of your social media-free period and find you wish to continue your break, do so.
On the other hand, you can also shorten your social media break if you feel that you’ve accomplished whatever it is you wanted to accomplish by taking a social media break.
The best time to take a break from social media is during family vacations and holidays.
This will give you and your family the opportunity to spend time each other in conversation rather than engaging in social media exchanges.But you might also take a break from social media if you need to commit all your attention to someone or something – for instance, when working on a school project.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed due to bad news and political mudslinging on social media, you might also take a social media break.
You can look for clues that this is happening to you.
For example, do you feel irritable after looking at social media? Do you fixate on things that you saw and think about them for the rest of the day? Do you have trouble focusing afterward? If so, then you probably need to take a break. , Taking a social media break could mean a cessation of all social media use, or it could mean taking a break only from certain networks.
For instance, perhaps you temporarily quit Facebook and Twitter, but stay on Instagram.There are no right or wrong ways to choose the networks you wish to take a break from.
A good way to start the selection process, though, is to think about your reasons for desiring a social media break, and then take a break from the network or networks that will most directly allow you to achieve those goals.
You can also just log out of these sites and applications on your computer and phone.
Having to log in every time you visit the site or use the app may reduce the chance that you will check them whenever you get bored or distracted. , For instance, if you plan on taking a social media break between Christmas and New Year’s Day, work to reduce your social media use in the period prior to Christmas.
Start cutting back about 10 days before you intend to take your break.
The amount by which you cut back depends on how much you use social media.For instance, if you use social media for two hours daily, cut your social media use back to
1.5 hours 10 days prior to your break.
Then, seven days before you plan on initiating your social media break, cut down to one hour daily.
Four days prior to your break, cut back to 30 minutes daily. , During your period of decreasing social media use, you might want to let your friends and social media followers know that you will soon be taking a social media break.
This will let people know why you aren’t answering their messages and prevent them from worrying once your social media break begins.It will also help to keep you accountable whenever you pull out your phone and start to open the app.
If you wish, you could schedule posts to appear even while you’re taking a break., Without a good cause, you will have a hard time maintaining time away from social media.
There are many reasons you might want to temporarily quit social media.
Perhaps you want more time with your friends and family.
Perhaps you are tired of using it every day.
Whatever your reason, be able to clearly articulate it so that you can answer people who ask – because they ‘’will’’ ask.You may also want to keep a list handy to remind yourself why you are taking a break from social media.
It’s also important to be able to identify why you want a social media break in order to stay strong when you start to feel that you do not want to continue.
In those moments, you can remind yourself, “No, I refuse to use social media until my designated break period ends because I want to spend more time with my family.”
About the Author
Anthony Roberts
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow hobbies tutorials.
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