Recently, I decided to take a few days off of Instagram. I figured this would be detox and a good time to recenter myself. It’s already May of 2021, and really I have no idea where this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday it was March 2020 and we were on the brink of a pandemic… then somehow I blinked and it was May 2021 we are still in a pandemic but not sure where the time has gone …. does anyone else feel like this? Anyways, I have been thinking about this year, my goals, what I want to accomplish, what I have been doing, what has been working, what hasn’t been working….. which really led me to my break from Instagram.

For me to recenter, I have to remove distractions. Instagram for me, is a distraction majority of the time. Sure, I make money off of Instagram, but I don’t make money from scrolling through the ‘Gram or clicking through other’s stories with absolutely no purpose. (I do this more than I’d like to admit).

In this post, you’ll find what I learned from my Instagram break.

Here are a few things I learned by taking an Insta break.

1.     I pick up my phone wayyyyy too many times throughout the day and open Instagram. I had no idea how many times a day I picked up my phone for no reason at all, but to open Instagram. Picking up my phone with no purpose but to scroll through Instagram is wasting time. I work from home so it’s not like I am going to get in trouble by being on my phone. It is just a poor use of my time.

2.     Anyone who wants to contact you will find a way even without being on Instagram. At first, I thought, “Oh no! What if someone can’t get ahold me.” I received multiple emails while taking my break from Instagram, all of these emails came from someone finding my Instagram profile. The point being, if someone wants to contact you, they will find a way.

3.     You can delete Instagram from your home screen on your iPhone, but still, have it on your phone. I didn’t know this was even possible, but it is super helpful to remove it from your home screen if you are trying to limit how often you are on Instagram.

4. If you’re lacking inspiration, take a break. Like I mentioned earlier, for me to recenter I have to remove distractions. Part of me recentering means, finding inspiration. I don’t find inspiration from Instagram. I find inspiration from living in the moment, writing in a notebook, and thinking. Being on Instagram too much drains me of inspiration.

5. There is more time in a day than I realized. Up until this week, I was getting up every day at 4 am and working until almost midnight- thinking I didn’t have enough time to get everything accomplished during the day. Well, I was wrong. By taking the break from Instagram, I was really able to prioritize what I wanted to focus on and accomplish without only sleeping 4 hours.

I highly encourage everyone to take a break from Instagram every so often. Every time I take an Instagram detox I learn something new about myself or my life. If you take an Instagram break, let me know what you learn!

As always, thank you for reading!

XO,

Madison