Social Media Boundaries

Happy February! I have a friend who in November came to me and asked me to do a social media cleanse with her for a month. This is something I have done before, but it had been over a year since I took that long of a break. I said yes immediately, feeling it was needed.

It was actually WAY harder than I remembered it being. ( a sign it was WAY overdue and well needed) And by the end of December, I set a few new boundaries for myself for the new year. So let's talk about them.

First off, I'm sure you've heard the saying what you see on social media is just a highlight reel, but lets say it again, because its so so true. This visual has really helped me look at it in a new light.

But what I really want to talk about is time. Before taking my break I was averaging 5-6 hours A DAY! Thats like a job! During my break I went down to 1.5 hours have been steady at that since but hoping to get it down to an hour. So I encourage you to look at your own screen time and do an honest reflection on if you need some boundaries in place.

After I got social media back in January, I ended up setting some new boundaries to keep myself from falling back into the place I was in November.

Social Media Boundaries

1. Delete the problem apps During my month break, I kept trying to open up a singular app. TikTok. I realized then, that there was an issue, and that most of my time was being spent on there. So for the new year, I deleted it altogether. And I'M SO GLAD I DID! I have gotten SO much more homework done before the due date, I'm reading my bible daily, and I feel more refreshed in the morning because I'm not staying up late scrolling.

2. Set media free zones I realized that most of my wasted time scrolling wasn't while I was on the go, it was at home in my own bedroom, especially waking and going to sleep. So to combat this as I got social media back, I said there is no social media allowed in my bedroom. Which has been especially difficult actually, but very eye opening on how I'm spending my time at home.

3. Have no interruption moments

   If you're anything like me, when homework gets hard or you see your phone flash, you will drop everything to check whats going on. For me this leads to extreme procrastination. So to change this, I've dedicated no interruption moments, where I silence my phone, put it out of reach, and turn it over so I can't see when it flashes. For me this is during homework, bible time, and journaling but we all have our own.

If you already have some social media boundaries, I hope these can expand on your current ones. And if you are struggling to put up boundaries, I encourage you to delete everything for 1-2 months to refresh. It will be hard and you will want to quit a few times, but it will start to put things in perspective, and your boundaries will build themselves.

Have a lovely February! Brooklyn.