What Happened When I Went Off Social Media for One Week

It all started when my phone only had 8 percent battery left.

"My phone loses charge so fast!" I complained to my husband as I plugged it in the wall for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"You're addicted." He said.

"I am NOT addicted." I fired back defensively.

I was angry because my cord was too short that I would have to sit on the floor to use it as it charged and I didn't want to do that so I had to wait for it to charge enough to keep using it that night. I had already spent hours on Facebook, Pinterest, and my new obsession, Instagram. Part of me knew I had a problem but the other part didn't want to quit for anything.

I had a list of excuses. I needed Pinterest to find new recipes. Facebook keeps me connected to my friends and family. I look on Instagram for inspiration for crafts. But that's all that they were. Excuses.

The reality was that social media was doing me more harm than good. I would compare my life, my body, my husband, my child to those I saw and read about on different social media platforms. I was really unhealthy and it was bringing me down daily.

Social media wasn't helping me to become the woman I wanted to become. It was hindering it. Something had to change. So this is it. My week without social media.

Here's what happened:

1. I was more productive.

Ok, WAY more productive. I was more tempted to go on social media when I wasn't doing anything, so I kept myself busy with projects. I organized our closet, sewed some fabric flowers, and kept the home clean.

2. I was more attentive to man-cub J.

I had a bad habit of being on my phone for the first hour that man-cub J was awake. My excuse what that I wasn't a morning person and it helped me ease in to the day. When I wasn't distracted on my phone, I was able to pay attention to him more and find joy in watching him play and learn.

3. I loved my life more.

Not because it was better than someone else's life, but because it was mine and it was perfectly unperfect. I didn't try to be like anyone else or look like anyone else. I felt comfortable just being myself.

4. My priorities were more straight.

Instead of wasting time constantly scrolling online, I found better things to take up my time. I did things that made me happy such as crafting and reading. At the end of the day, I felt confident that I had used my time well and had accomplished more of what I wanted to.

I'm going to keep it real by saying that the first day off of social media was really easy and I was very happy about it, but the second day was terrible. The baby woke up especially early and I was just grumpy the whole day. I wanted to waste time doing something mindless online, but I pushed through. I pushed through the rest of the days too. But, by the end of the week I felt good about the week I had and the things that I had accomplished.

Am I going to quit social media completely? No. I'm not. But I will limit my time way more so that I am not wasting my days away. Overall it was a positive experience that I will probably repeat every so often. I think that it's healthy to disconnect for a little while to get life back into order. I'm glad that I had this experience so that I can know how much more full my life can be when I use my time better.