It’s always felt a bit ironic when I read posts by bloggers and social influencers that say they are taking a much-needed hiatus from sharing on social media. If I’m being honest, I thought that it was kind of petty – like how could social media run your life anyways? As a marketer by trade, social media kind of comes with the territory, but as just one small part of a larger marketing strategy, it never overtook my workdays. 
…..But then my personal social media following started growing and I picked up more steam with blogging and I had that ‘Aha!’ moment – now I get it. Social media is a LOT of work, y’all. Especially if you’re putting strategy behind it and not just posting whatever you want, when you want and deeply caring about the quality of your photos. It’s hard work – and at some point, you realize that it’s taking away from other things in your life. My mind is always so focused on taking photos ‘for the blog’ or ‘for Instagram’ and I don’t feel like I get to live in the moment, at times.
Lately, I’ve been feeling this push to slow down and get back to a more simple life but I’ve been making excuses as to why I shouldn’t do it. Part of it is fear that the things I’ve worked so hard at building will suffer – my social following, my blog traffic, etc. and that there will be a void in my day. And another part, to be honest, is the fear of missing out. That’s such an ironic statement, though – why should I be worried about the fear of missing out on what other people are doing, when I should really just be worried about missing out on things happening (or that could be happening) in my life?
There are a number of reasons why taking a little break is nice:
- Springtime is almost here and the weather is getting so pretty – which means more time to spend outdoors with my girls.
- Preschool will be out for summer in less than a month, so that’s more time to do activities with my girls and plan playdates with their friends.
- I had a goal of reading more in 2018 and got off to a good start, but focusing too much on social media started to take its place.
- I’m getting ready to start a new workout program (in addition to Pure Barre, duh – never quitting!) and I want to really dial into focusing on my nutrition and fitness.
- I have some big entrepreneurial aspirations and need to spend time brainstorming and planning for future endeavors.
- I still freelance and have a pretty steady stream of projects on my plate, which I’m SO grateful for and need to find time to squeeze it all in!
- I want to make a concerted effort to be fully present at home with my girls and husband. I find myself so distracted by social media throughout the day and need to just turn it ‘OFF’ for a bit.
That’s honestly just a few of the many reasons why I need to take a breather – there are also a TON of house projects I would love to spend some time on. We need to finish our laundry room/pantry makeover, paint our dining room and paint the bathroom cabinets in 4 bathrooms! I always feel like my time is so limited and hesitate to start on a big project, but I think making an effort to put away my phone and computer will help immensely and free up a lot of time I didn’t realize I had!
I kind of made this decision on a whim (despite plenty of consideration over time!), so I don’t really know what this will look like for me. I want to take off a little chunk of time from posting on social media (with the exception of a few already-planned sponsored posts), but will most certainly keep the blog up-to-date – in fact, I think taking away some time from social media will free up time to write more. Part of me was considering popping onto Instagram to post a story every now and then, but I probably really need to delete the app from my phone in order to avoid the black hole of scrolling! I plan to take this day by day and will evaluate things as I go along. I will definitely be back(!), but just want to see what life feels like without having a phone attached to my hand at all times. 🙂 A big shout out to Amanda Hedgepeth for the original inspiration a while ago – it just took this long for me to come around to the idea!
Stay tuned to the blog – regular posts will still be happening! 🙂
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