7 Great Advantages You Get When You Take a Break from Social Media

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Some believe social media is a blessing, allowing you to scroll through content and click on adds to your heart’s content.

This is not always true, however. Social media can be addictive and psychologically draining. The tiny bit of gratification we get from receiving likes and notifications is enough to get us addicted. But if you’re constantly exhausted, it may be time to take a break from it.

In the rest of this post, we’ll discover reasons you should take a break from social media, to help decide whether doing so is worthwhile.

Advantages of Taking a Break from Social Media

 Here are the key benefits of detoxing from social media for a while.

You Can be More Mindful and Address Your Mental Health

Technology has an undeniable effect on our mental health. If you rely upon social media to alleviate loneliness or as your primary source of entertainment, you are more likely to have less robust mental health than those who don’t.

Disconnecting from social media for a time can reduce levels of stress and anxiety, which can help you focus and become more productive. Bear in mind that your mental health is much more important than the validation you can get from comments and likes.

So, take a break and you will no doubt find some peace of mind.

Check out our post on meditation and productivity for more.

You Can Reconnect with Nature

If you take a break from social media, you can become more active and reconnect with nature. Of course, you need not completely cut yourself off from social media entirely, but you may do wonders for your mental health if you take time out of your routine to appreciate nature.

It Can Reduce Stress

There are several ways social media can stress us out. Here are a few.

• It can perpetuate a FOMO related to missing important news.
• It may make us worry about not reaching a big enough audience.
• It can induce a fear that we will not have our opinions validated through receiving likes and comments.

The best thing we can do to eliminate these stressors is to take a break from social media. We may see a marked improvement in our mental health as a result. This, in turn, may improve your ability to focus and therefore help you become more productive.

It Can Help Us Banish FOMO

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a familiar feeling for many of us, particularly when we’re scrolling through social media feeds. We should remind ourselves that not everything is always as it seems. For example, someone shopping for luxury items may not be as happy with their life as they like to portray.

Avoiding social media for a time will rid you of FOMO and remind you that much of social media is about boasting about achievements and concealing disappointment and sorrow. Comparing ourselves to others can lead to depression and feelings of insecurity. Taking a step back from social media can give you a much-needed confidence boost and help you tackle your work with newfound vigour.

You Can Spend More Time with Your Family

It should be a priority for everyone to spend time with their friends and family. Unfortunately, social media can make us forget that family should come first and that our real-life friends should come before people we only know online.

You can avoid making this common mistake by stepping back from social media and spending more time with your friends and family and giving your pets love and attention.

We should all be aware of the negative effects social media can have and remember that there is much more to life than what we find online.

It May Improve Cognitive Function

Have you ever noticed that if you get more likes and shares on a social media post than you were expecting can make you feel happy? You get a dopamine hit from it, and your brain functionality is akin to that of someone addicted.

If you rely on social media too much for everyday solutions, you will not be able to think as freely as others, and this may impair your ability to problem-solve in both work and home environments. To combat this potential problem, build activities into your routine that challenge you more than social media does.

By ensuring that you challenge yourself, you can maintain a healthy level of cognitive function. This means you will:

• Have a better memory.
• Be more creative.
• Have better control over your emotions.
• Have an improved overall lifestyle.
• Be more able to find creative solutions to problems.

By having a better memory, and being more able to solve problems, you will be more likely you’ll be able to make better decisions. This may help improve your productivity, too.

So, by reducing the amount you rely on social media, you may be able to get several unlooked-for benefits that may improve your life.

It will Give You More Time to Pursue Something Productive

Spending less time online makes you more productive. You can be more efficient at work, study more effectively, and much else besides if you choose to take a break from social media.

Why not take up a productive hobby like gardening or cooking? Other such hobbies include:

• Playing an instrument.
• Reading.
• Painting.
• Playing video games.
• Writing.
• Origami.

Taking up any of these hobbies to see if they suit you and to find out if you enjoy them can be a fantastic use of your time. Making effective use of your free time in this way can also relax you and reduce your risk of suffering burnout.

Therefore, indirectly as it may be, finding a hobby that suits you can make you more productive.

You’ll probably be amazed by the amount of time you’ll save when you stop letting social media rule your life.

Wrapping Up   

We’ve covered 7 advantages you’ll get if you take a break from social media and talked about what you could do with your time instead. Don’t let the online world and the negativity within it rule your life and steal precious away from your family, friends, and loved ones.

When you feel the need, take a break, step away from social media, prioritise your mental health, get active and give yourself a chance to boost your productivity.

If you enjoyed this post, you might be interested to find out what colour is best for productivity.