What Happens When You Take a Social Media Break?

Have you ever gotten that weekly ping from your phone to look at your screen time stats for the week and cringed? I rarely look. I know my screen time has creeped up to an unhealthy level. And shocker! While my screen time, particularly social media time, has creeped up, my sleep quantity has creeped down while my stress and blood pressure have creeped up. I finally admitted ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. And in an act of dramatic desperation I declared on Instagram and Facebook that I was signing off for the month of June as an experiment to see what life, and my health, would be like without social media. 

One week later, my screen time went down 20%. By removing Facebook and Instagram from all devices I found an extra 7 hours of time compared to last week. In reflection, it’s interesting that this week I also learned how to cook two new meals, found time in the afternoon to grill outside, went swimming outside for the first time in years, began reading a new book, meditated a few times and was acting more social IRL with friends. 

Most importantly, I noticed my blood pressure lowered. My once healthy blood pressure had recently increased to around 135/90 on average. This morning it’s 111/75. My resting heart rate and HRV have also improved. My Whoop recovery scores and sleep scores were also better than my recent averages. In general I felt calmer and less stressed. And bizarrely I felt less lonely. 

I’m not alone. It’s been well documented by many studies and reports. Taking a social media hiatus can improve your health and wellbeing. And there are lots of tips for reducing doom scrolling that are less dramatic than deleting it altogether. One of my favorites came from Arnold Swarzenegger’s fantastic daily newsletter which discussed recent research showing that changing your phone screen from color to black and white can help. I tried it and it was too weird for me.  

Of course it’s been odd at times without social media. I have an ongoing thread on IG with a colleague and I wanted to tell her something. I went to open the app and had to pause and find another way to connect with her. I was 10 minutes early for a meeting and was like “WTF do I do for 10 minutes? Agggg!” I sat there and just watched the world. It was strange. But nice. I thought I was “bored”. Turns out in today’s CONSTANTLY stimulated world we may be confusing being bored with being calm. 

A friend last night at dinner said I’m doing a “dry January” but with social media. I liked that. I don’t want to give it up completely and forever. There is value in it. It had just gotten to be too much and a break was in order. Everyone has to find what works for them. I’m expecting in July to add it back to my home laptop only and to give myself a 10-minute allowance in the morning over coffee to look at it. If you have any tools or tips for keeping your social manageable please do let me know! I’d love to try.