Simply said, it got into my mind. Literally. 

Whenever I walked in the park, I’d see a beautiful setting and could already picture the caption I’d write for my coaching biz. Sometimes even writing that caption right away—head down—walking right past that beauty all around me.
 

I followed many inspiring accounts that poured tons of life and health hacks, plus countless business tips, onto my already-full plate. 

Socials also surrounded me with beautiful business owners next to whose branded accounts I’d sometimes feel like I didn’t quite measure up. In my mind I knew I shouldn’t care or compare, but unfortunately, just knowing wasn’t always enough. 

Of course, it wasn’t all bad. Sometimes I’d simply scroll, laugh out loud at memes, and enjoy exchanging DMs with fam and friends. And yet, I always left feeling a little empty, to be completely honest.

2. Signing off… 

Eventually, all these thoughts must have piled up, because one day I just knew: it was time for a break. I’d taken breaks before, usually a week, maybe two, sometimes three, but this time, I needed more. A detox. Perhaps I’d never come back. I was following God’s guidance, confirmed by the ease and peace with which it all unfolded. Who would’ve thought I wouldn’t miss it, and would enjoy social-media-free life this much?

From one day to the next, I went from, let’s optimistically say, 15 short check-ins a day (plus of course the occasional long scroll) to 0. The weird thing was: I was waiting to miss it, but didn’t!

My friend funnily shared when she went off socials, her thumb had to detox from all the scrolling, haha. In my case, I simply and deeply enjoyed the peace of mind, the time and the space it gave me. Wow. If all of this is life without socials, sign me up—or off—either way, I’ll stay away!

3. The Unexpected Benefits

What exactly do I mean by “all of this”? Here are my favorite benefits:

Focus: not grabbing my phone for a social-update-dopamine-hit did miracles for my concentration. I was able to get into the zone for work faster and stay there longer. I was able to read more books without being bored. Ahem. There was less restlessness in my system, without even realizing it had been there in the first place. 

Peace: this was one of the things I noticed first. The peace of mind. Wow. Gone was the background noise, the echoes of voices and noise of reels and posts I’d just seen. No more brain space dedicated to finding constant ideas for captions or how to fit a life lesson into a format. Simply. Peace… 

Less comparison: As mentioned earlier, I knew in theory, as we all probably do, that comparison is the thief of joy, and still, being on a social platform where everyone literally posts the highlight reels of their lives, it’s hard to not fall into that trap. Being on it again after a long time, I noticed how easy it is to be lured back in again. 

Hearing God better: With more peace in my mind and less background sound, a sense of calm slowly emerged. Not life-changing, since I still had my 70.000-something thoughts a day, but at least there were more of my own in there, and, God’s. It became easier to hear from God and to quiet my mind faster from a state of restlessness to rest, in order to hear from Him. 

Presence: This is my favorite! I had no idea that a part of my attention had always been with socials – a reel I’d seen, a recipe I wanted to try, a reflection I wanted to share. But now that this option was off the table, a part of my brain had space to be fully present again, and I loved it! I felt like I was more alive. It wasn’t ground-breaking, but it was real. It was probably this last part that made me never really want to return again.

Until… I started a social media assignment again after years, and loved it, except for this: In the first few days, because of Insta’s super-strict security, I had to use my own account to log in. Of course… I peaked. 

It started with messages, some stories, scrolling… and before I knew it, my 15-minute notification popped up. What? It had only been a few minutes! Oops. The few times I snuck in afterwards, the same thing happened. I realized, first-hand again, just how addictive Instagram is. Just one more… message, story, scroll… and it’s so hard to stop.“

4. Boundaries, Please… 

My conclusion… is summed up perfectly in this Bible verse:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. -1 Corinthians 6:1

The end.
Okay, just a little add-on…
The life coach in me still has something to say 😉

The “not-being-mastered-by-anything” part made me painfully aware that, let’s put it positively, I need boundaries. As it’s starting to itch to go back on socials, mainly to connect and post for my coaching biz, I realized, I need a plan. After all, failing to plan is planning to fail, right? 

That’s where my new three P’s come in: 

Promise—I’m promising myself to no longer snooze my 15-minute notification, and definitely not in endless five-minute increments anymore. 

Predecide—I’m predeciding to not go on my favorite social—yes, Insta—every day. 

Prepare—I’m planning to prepare my coaching content in another app, so I can post quickly, without getting pulled in, just like I do with my other content work.

5. Final Thoughts

Hopefully these steps will prevent me from slipping back into mindless scrolling, keep the focus, peace, presence, connection and other positive effects I experienced during my off-social time.

Sound strict? I guess it is. But if I’d go with the flow, I’d soon be swimming in a sea of social updates again, and I’d much rather spend that extra time on a soothing swim in the ocean these last summer days, or well, in my own metaphors, haha. I’ll let you know how it goes, probably on Insta.

So yes, social media isn’t inherently bad, but being mastered by it? That’s the trap. My time off socials reminded me of the peace, presence, and connection that actually feeds my soul. 

How about you?

Have you ever taken a long break from social media? And what helps you “control your scroll”? I’d love to hear your thoughts—either in the comments below or on social media since we’re back. Whohoo!