12 Reasons To Do A Social Media Detox & Unplug

If you find yourself too consumed with social media feeds and your cell phone, it is best that you take part in a Social Media Detox and Unplug. Social Media is a great way to keep in contact with family and friends, share breaking news, and see hilarious content, but it is very addictive.

Despite the benefits that social media provides, there are also some negatives. With the countless time that people spend swiping through social media, it can have negative impacts on their physical and mental health, productivity, and sleeping habits, to name a few. Hootsuite revealed in a January 2020 report that people around the world spent an average of two hours and 24 minutes per day using social media.

Given the data mentioned above, some time to unplug and do a Social Media Detox is needed. With this timeout from social media, people should be able to reflect and see what they can do to cut down on the screen time.

Now, with all of that being said, take a look down below and the 12 Reasons Why You Should Do A Social Media Detox & Unplug:

1. Live In The Present Without Your Phone:

When we are constantly absorbed in our phones seeing what the biggest thing on social media is right now, we fail to take in our immediate surroundings. Amazing things happen when people start living in the present moment. A Social Media Detox will allow you to enjoy life more and notice the small things. Furthermore, you will begin to appreciate all of the aspects that life has to offer.

2. To Actually Be Social:

Another benefit of participating in a Social Media Detox is that all of the time not spent looking at your cellphone enables you to be social. Yes, that means having an actual face-to-face conversation with your family and friends.

With the rise of social media, the majority of the younger generation believe that social media is the same thing as being social. It’s quite the opposite. Going out and about and having in-depth and face-to-face conversations with others is really the only true way to be social. While social media might connect us with people, a true, face-to-face connection with other human beings is more meaningful than hiding behind a screen.

3. A Sharper Focus:

It’s not a surprising fact that social media can be distracting and causes us to procrastinate on completing more important assignments and tasks. In fact, a 2016 University of California study revealed that subjects could only focus on one screen-based task for 40 seconds before switching to a different activity.

Regardless of how long you participate in a Social Media Detox, your attention span will improve as time passes by. Without those feelings of wanting to know what the latest celebrity tea and trends are, you will be able to develop a much sharper and clearer focus, which helps get things done at a much faster pace. Hopefully, when your social media detox is complete, you will make changes to limit your screen time in order to continue with the boost in productivity.

4. Eliminate Risks of Depression:

People want to look perfect, flawless, and show off their lifestyles on their social media accounts in the hope of gaining more likes and followers. Seeing posts like that leaves many people feeling the pressure to do the same to feel accepted and liked by others.

Measuring how liked you are by your peers based on your social media likes and followers is unhealthy and has tremendous effects on your mental health and self-esteem. Some people even fall into depression and in drastic cases, the depression leads to suicide. A study conducted by The University of Pittsburgh in 2017 revealed that heavy social media usage can lead to a nine percent increase in the risks of depression.

5. More Free Time:

As you take part in a Social Media Detox (the amount of time doesn’t matter), you will be able to see how much more free time you have on your hands. In general, we all have busy lives, whether it be school or work, but a Social Media Detox will change your work-life balance for the better.

With the statistic from Hootsuite on how much time we spend on social media each day (see the introduction), it is easy to tell that social media is addictive and time-consuming. Use the free time you have left to participate in engaging activities.

Please note that I’m not saying you need to delete all of your accounts once your Social Media Detox is over. People can still be active on social media, but need to set an appropriate time limit so they don’t return to their old, obsessive social media habits.

6. To Be More Productive:

To go along with having more free time (see #5 above), another great reason why you should unplug and go on a Social Media Detox is so you can become more productive in the things and activities you do each day! During your social media layoff, you will notice how much quicker you get tasks done and how much your time management skills improve! From all of the 12 reasons listed here as to why you should do a social media detox, Reason #6 is one of the most important ones if you want to be successful in your career.

7. Better Quality of Sleep:

Studies have shown that scrolling on your phone before calling it a day or sleeping with your phone right next to you is bad for your well-being. The blue light that the screen (of any electronic device) produces has a significant impact on the quality of your sleep.

While unplugging and taking a Social Media Detox, one of the most instant changes you will notice is a drastic improvement in the quality of your sleep. When you wake up each morning during your Social Media Detox, you will feel well-rested and really refreshed!

8. Eliminate The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO):

For young adults, many suffer from FOMO, aka the Fear of Missing Out. In the age of social media today, people compulsively check for status updates and messages across various social media platforms for the fear of missed opportunities. In this case, the ‘missed opportunity’ is the need to feel included and be aware of what’s going on so you don’t feel left out.

Heading into a Social Media Detox, the FOMO will be really heavy for obsessive social media users. For readers out there who are obsessive social media users and are about unplug and do a Social Media Detox, don’t fret! The truth is life goes on without us, regardless if you are in a Social Media Detox or not. This shift in perspective is the main thing to achieve as you attempt to let go of your FOMO.

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9. To Stop Competing With Others:

Social Media Platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook allow many to boost their popularity and promote their profiles and businesses. There are many social media influencers out there across these platforms today. Social Media brings out a competitive nature inside not only influencers but also in regular people.

Whenever we post something on social media (regardless of which platform), we do so in the hope of getting more followers. As a result, people measure their worth and popularity based on the number of likes and comments each post receives. The same can be applied to for the number of followers they have as well.

Measuring our worth based on the number of likes, comments, and followers, is not a healthy mindset to develop as it creates an unhealthy obsession of striving to outdo your peers on social media. Also, it is easy for some to grow jealous of people you who get more likes and followers. This type of competitiveness can cause people to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression.

10. To Remember Your Worth As A Human:

As stated in Section #10 above, the amount of time spent on social media platforms eventually turns into an unhealthy obsession where people begin to measure their value to this world based on the number of likes and followers they have across their social media accounts. The more likes and followers, the more they feel loved. When people don’t get the amount of likes or followers they desire, they are convinced they are not worthy in other people’s eyes.

The obsessions surrounding the number of likes and followers produces a lot of anxiousness and low self-esteem. While on a Social Media Detox, you must realize that the number of likes and followers you have on social media doesn’t measure your worth as a human in the real world!

11. To Have More Focus On The Things You Love:

Besides your busy work or school schedule, the amount of time we spend on social media doesn’t leave enough of it for the activities and hobbies that we love. Beyond our phone screens and social media platforms, the world has plenty of things to offer. Use this time away to rediscover the passion for activities and hobbies that interest you, which can be anything from shopping to baking, to exercising, to going to the beach, to name a few.

12. To Stop Being Obsessed of The Past:

When people stalk other accounts on various social media platforms, it becomes quite an obsession of the past, regardless if it’s for personal or not. If it’s personal, it can potentially leave you trapped in a toxic space, which isn’t good for your mental health and ability to recover and move-on from the breakup.

Unplugging from social media for a while will help reduce this obsessiveness. A Social Media Detox will also help you move on and reflect on what you want for your next relationship to be more successful.