Many of us check our social media accounts often throughout the day, usually to see what friends are up to, see the latest trends, or just to pass time.
There are several mental effects social media can have on us. From addiction, to sadness, to feelings of jealousy.
Social media increases how much we compare our lives to other people.
Where once before we never had access to so many people’s lives. We now have a sneak peak into millions of people’s lives, triggering even more comparisons.
The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. One study a few years ago found that Facebook use was linked to both less moment-to-moment happiness and less life satisfaction—the more people used Facebook in a day, the more these two variables dropped off.
Forbes
So how do we know when social media is totally wrecking our lives? How many hours per day is triggering those levels of unhappiness?
Is hard to know, but is important to take notice of how you feel during, and after using social networks.
If the feeling are those of comparison, sadness, unworthiness or anxiety….is time to log off.
Why You Need A Social Media Break
Recharge:
Taking a social media break allows you to recharge and get your energy and time back. If you take a look at your “screen time” tool on your iphone you’ll see how many hours you’re actually spending on social media.
Those hours can be allocated to other important things in your life, like working out, reading, working on a side project, learning a new skill that will advance your career or just spending it with family.
Cutting your usage over the weekend and then logging back in you notice that you’re not really missing out on anything by spending all this time on social media.
You’ll reclaim your time and be more productive and feel better about all the things you got done.
Connect With Those Around You:
Taking a break from our phones allows us to connect with friends and family. I love when I’m around my friends and family I can destress and put my phone away and be completely in the moment.
Life goes by fast and we don’t notice how fast these hours are disappearing when we are scrolling through a screen.
You don’t want to miss out on connecting with real people versus those online that don’t really care about your wellbeing.
Good For Your Eyes:
Staring at a screen for too long can be painful on your eyes. I wear contacts, so when I stare for too long without a break I feel like my eyes are tired from over working.
Taking these social media breaks can help your eyes rest from all the screen time.
Makes You Feel Grateful:
When you scroll through social media, unwillingly you begin to compare and size your self-up against the images you see.
Comparing what you have vs. what another person has is social media’s biggest downside.
You might have absolutely everything you’ve always desired, but when you start scrolling through these images you begin thinking “wow, thats cool, I wish I had that” “is what I have good enough?”.
We use to only be able to compare what we had with our neighbors or inner circle, now that neighbor or circle is thousands and thousands of people. Whose lives we have access to but don’t get to see the full picture, just snippets. Our brain assumes the rest of the story, based on a couple of snippets of someones life.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”. When we compare ourselves to others we devalue what you have.
You already know all the little details and problems about your life but only see the positive surface information about those you’re comparing yourself to.
So don’t hold yourself to some outside standard of greatness. Accept what you have as whats yours and leave comparison out of the equation.
