2244: Letting Go of My Instagram Addiction by Kim Christenson with No Sidebar on Social Media Problems

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[00:00:34] Letting Go of My Instagram Addiction by Kim Christenson of NoSidebar.com Hello everybody and welcome back to ORD with me your host and narrator Greg Audino. Great to have you with me and today's featured article will be all about how one woman let go

[00:00:51] of her Instagram addiction, the benefits she reaped from doing so, and why you might want to consider doing the same. So with that let's hear this post from Kim Christenson as we optimize your life. Letting Go of My Instagram Addiction by Kim Christenson of NoSidebar.com

[00:01:13] I deleted Instagram for a month to focus on writing my first book. But I got so much more out of it than that. It took me a while to actually delete the thing. Months in fact.

[00:01:26] I knew a break was in order. I was getting too caught up in sharing there and spending too much time scrolling through people's lives instead of fully living my own. But I kept justifying.

[00:01:38] It was my digital scrapbook after all. What if people try to contact me there? What if my following and engagement tank? And my biggest fear, what if I miss out on something?

[00:01:50] I kept trying strategies to be on my phone less. A few things helped, but I still felt a near constant pull to my phone. It was my go-to whenever I had a spare minute or when I wanted

[00:02:02] to escape a tough moment, it had become a crutch. When I finally pushed that little x and deleted the app, I instantly felt a sense of relief. Here are some insights I gained during my time away. Present Overposted

[00:02:19] At first, I still saw some experiences through the social media lens. When we did something fun as a family, my kids said something funny, I listened to a great podcast or had an insight, I thought

[00:02:31] about posting it. But that compulsion faded away and something better took its place. I started being more present in those moments. I saw them for what they were instead of what

[00:02:42] they could be on Instagram. I enjoyed them not because they were a good photo op or share worthy, but because they were a memory in the making. I experienced things more fully with all of my

[00:02:54] senses. I catalogued them in my brain instead of on my phone. More creation, less consumption. I've been working on my book for almost three years and I've had a nagging question at the

[00:03:07] back of my mind. How much further along would I be with it? How much more developed would my characters be? How much more could I hone my craft if I didn't have the noise of social media

[00:03:18] crowding my time and headspace? I craved those rare moments of inspiration that seemed to be crowded out by all the other things taking up real estate in my mind, including Instagram. I got more productive work done with my book during my four weeks without social media

[00:03:34] than I had in the previous three years I'd been working on it. When social media was out of the picture, moments of inspiration started coming significantly more frequently. And not just inspiration about my book, but about my kids, my friends, and my other creative projects.

[00:03:52] Consuming social media, and other forms of media too, makes us feel like we're doing something, but after an hour of it, we're not left with much to show for it. It's too easy to get stuck

[00:04:03] in a cycle of consuming instead of creating. Validation from within. Shortly after I got off Instagram, I started feeling some intense insecurities, to the point of what felt like an emotional breakdown. It was strange because I thought getting off social media would have

[00:04:20] the opposite effect. Then I realized two things. First, I wasn't experiencing the buzz of sharing my photos and thoughts with the world and getting the near constant validation of likes, comments, and new followers anymore. Second, I wasn't using social media to numb or escape from my feelings

[00:04:38] and my reality anymore. I was having to feel and process things more deeply. It was a wake-up call to how much I was spending on distraction to avoid and numb feelings. I'm learning the valuable

[00:04:50] lesson of feeling the full extent of my emotions and fostering self-validation instead of relying on external sources for it. Feeling whole. As modern women, we feel like we're being pulled in hundreds of directions. Social media exacerbates that fragmented feeling because we're seeing what

[00:05:08] everyone else is doing and comparing, even subconsciously, our situation and our choices to theirs. It's overwhelming. I think our brains are kind of freaking out about the information overload of it. Life isn't meant to be lived by peering into everyone's proverbial backyards

[00:05:26] to see what they're up to, what their house looks like, what their hair looks like, what vacations they're enjoying, and how their kids are behaving. We also don't need to hear everyone's advice, even good advice, about everything under the sun. That clouds our own intuition and common sense.

[00:05:43] It skews the perspective that we each have unique ways of living and parenting, and being a successful, beautiful woman, wife, or mother doesn't have a certain look. A No-Regrets Motherhood Ever since I lost my social media addiction,

[00:05:59] I've been more present with my kids. That's how I want to spend these years while they're young and under my influence. And that won't happen unless I make some intentional choices about how I use

[00:06:08] social media. I want to set the example that living life and connecting with people always come before connecting with technology and social media. Finding Balance I'm back on social media, but I can't consume it the way I did before, because now I know how much

[00:06:26] more peaceful, liberating, and fulfilling life feels when I'm not tethered to my phone. Now, I preserve most moments for my family and I. When I do share, I don't spend much time there,

[00:06:37] and I delete the app on weekends. I don't think social media is evil or something we should all ditch. There's a lot of good to be found on it, and I enjoy sharing and connecting there.

[00:06:48] I applaud my friends who are able to pursue their passions and support their families through it. But for me, the return on my social media investment wasn't worth the time and energy I was putting into it. While social media apps can be a positive tool, the richness,

[00:07:03] fulfillment, and excitement of life are not contained in them. It's in our relationships, our real-life experiences, in simple everyday moments, and in off-screen thoughts and inspiration. We shouldn't have fear of missing out on what's going on in the social media world,

[00:07:20] but of what we could be missing by spending too much time in it. You just listened to the post titled, Letting Go of My Instagram Addiction, by Kim Christensen of NoSidebar.com, and be sure to stick around for my comments in just a minute.

[00:07:39] Okay, and thanks to Kim for this post and this very important reminder. I think that at one point or another, all avid social media users have considered whether or not they're on it too much, or at the very least have found themselves complaining about how social

[00:07:54] media is taking over everyone's lives, regardless of whether or not they examine how it's affecting them. But why is it that such a small percentage of these people actually take breaks from it,

[00:08:07] or try some other form of intervention? Well, the reasons may vary, but one idea that can help is to put structure around your potential social media hiatus. Maybe it's time-bound, committing to a date in which you'll delete it and a date in which you'll choose whether or not

[00:08:23] to reactivate it. Maybe it's a matter of making a plan to make up for what you feel the loss of social media will take from you. So, you know, like if you're worried about missing out on

[00:08:34] business messages, you might put an email button on your profile and change your bio to something like, taking a break from social media, please email me with any inquiries. Or maybe you're worried about being bored without social media. Well, don't just think about the time you'd be

[00:08:49] getting back, but think instead about how you'd spend it. Maybe if you spend two hours a day on Instagram now, but you miss painting, you can delete Instagram and then buy yourself a new

[00:08:59] set of paints and commit to painting for the two hours of a day instead. So a lot to think about. That'll do it for today, everyone. Thank you so much for being here today and every day.

[00:09:10] Obviously we could not do this without you. And be sure to join us again tomorrow as we begin our Parenting Leg of the Week and where your optimal life awaits.