You don’t need us to tell you, influencers work hard.
They put in multiple hours a day to shoot and edit content, respond to their followers, schedule collaborations, respond to briefs and squeeze in admin work on top of all that. They’re constantly connected. Creators don’t get to clock off and leave the office for the day. They’re never off duty.
Detoxing from social media might sound like sacrificing all of your hard work, but the experts say that taking time off is more important now than ever. Especially for your mental health. Author, David Iskander has even written a book about taking a 30 Day Social Media Detox to “improve your life, family and business” and marketed the read towards influencers. He believes, “If you say, I don’t think I could give up Instagram for even a week, then you probably need to give it up more than you think”. Influencers living a life of constant connection could make it difficult to focus on other aspects of life, such as family and friends, mental health and overall productivity.
To combat this lack of ‘work/life’ balance, creators are taking mindful breaks. Vamp influencer @teegly told us that she “sometimes takes on too much in a short amount of time and burns out” so she gave herself a month of very limited access to social media in order to “come back and get right into it again”.
Creator, @lewinmaladay took a weeks holiday away from social media while working overseas last year to unplug and really experience the new country he was calling home. He said this allowed him to “prioritise what I wanted to do with my social media when I returned. Funnily enough, I felt more inspired to create content than before”.
@cellinikamil took a two week pause last December after losing a close family member. She didn’t post and had extremely limited access to her Instagram. “I found this decision refreshing and felt more present. I came back to social media with so many new ideas”.
It might sound daunting, but taking a mindful break can be done. Here’s a FOMO-free guide to detoxing from social media:
Tip 1
Give yourself ‘shifts’ where you smash out work for 5-6 hours a day, then ‘clock off’ and don’t come back until the next day. This will allow you to still be on that work grind, while giving yourself an appropriate amount of time away from social media.
Tip 2
Turn on your phone’s “Do Not Disturb” for a couple of hours a day to reduce the constant pinging and give yourself a little break away from the screen to refresh your mind.
Tip 3
If you want a phone-free weekend, set up auto replies on your emails to respond saying, “Currently out of office, I will get back to you on Monday morning”. This will make sure you hit all of your deadlines by Friday and helps you quit the habit of responding to emails during this time where you should be relaxing.
Tip 4
Assign yourself a detox buddy, similar to a workout buddy, where you both implement some of these ideas into your routines. This will make you both accountable and almost force you to take time off to support the other person.
Tip 5
Make a list of productive tasks you want (read, write, paint) or need (paperwork, grocery shop, vacuum) to get done. Put this list in plain sight and every time you catch yourself reaching for your phone to scroll through your newsfeed, make yourself complete one of these tasks instead. Getting in the zone and staying productive could stop you from hours of mindless scrolling.
Tip 6
If you feel as though you need a proper holiday, with extremely limited access to social media, schedule it in advance. This way you can tell your agency, manager or clients when you won’t be available to work — people prefer to be kept in the loop. And of course, make sure you take this break during a time when you have no collaboration commitments.
As a content creator, work and life are hard to separate. Taking occasional and mindful social media breaks will help to reset your creativity levels and come back healthier. Never feel guilty for taking some time off when needed. When you return, use social media more intentionally. Follow inspiring and motivating accounts, engage with creators you can learn from and post meaningful and useful content for your audience to digest.
