Self-Care Challenge Digital Detox

02

Feb

As I mentioned yesterday I’m kicking off a month of trying to give myself more self-care. Each week I’ve picked a different topic to focus on and when thinking about this and brainstorming I came up with four different pillars that I felt were important to me, the first being intellectual. For me this means finding ways to do more for mental state every week — whether its practicing mindfulness, meditating or something I really love — reading. Since I had Flora I’ve been spending more time than ever on social media, mainly Instagram and to be honest it’s started taking a toll on me.

I have such a love hate relationship with Instagram – it’s opened the door to so many opportunities for me, connected me with so many incredible women and mamas and been a (sometimes) fun creative outlet. It’s also been a source of income and help support my family.  But it’s also a source of a lot of anxiety and more recently made me feel quite depressed. It’s impossible not to compare yourself to others, and with the algorithm changing constantly, my follower count going down with each post I make, it’s just hard not to get frustrated. I always try to just be myself on Instagram but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I put thought and intent into every post, hoping it performs better than the last.  There’s a constant pressure to shop! have the latest and greatest and while I love searching for clothes to share, and I know how much people like to see them — it’s hard to keep up with not to mention pay for! I realized the other day that in the 8 weeks I was “off” work (not really) I could have finished several books, read articles about business and parenting but instead I spent hours looking at squares on my phone, feeling bad about myself. This month that’s going to end! I have several ways that I’m planning on changing this behavior — but for the next week I’m going on a digital detox and I’d love for you to join me. Being online is my job, so I won’t be totally absent – I’ll just be making some big changes and I can’t wait to see how I feel after!

I hope to keep up ALL of these weekly challenges throughout the month, but really give myself the opportunity to focus on them week by week.

THE DIGITAL DETOX

So here are my goals for the digital detox — not rules, but my goals. Yours don’t have to be the same, or you can just follow a few of them! I highly suggest sharing them with your partner, friend or roommate to help hold you accountable!!

  • Take weekends off from social media — limited posting and NO scrolling. Stock up on images and video and post later if totally necessary.
  • Set times during the week to scroll through Instagram (for example morning, lunch break, after dinner) and check email and other social networks
  • Don’t check email on your phone — save it for work time when you’re on your computer
  • Phone gets plugged in at 5pm so you can spend time being present with my family
  • Turn off alerts and push notifications on your phone and computer – no more unnecessary distractions
  • Stop taking your phone EVERYWHERE with you — don’t bring it to the bathroom or pull it out at a red light
  • Don’t look at your phone while you’re talking to someone — most importantly, your kids !
  • No phones in bed (I’ll have mine on the nightstand because I use Sprout to track my nursing + Flora’s sleeping)

 

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Self-Care Challenge Digital Detox

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  1. Alicia says:

    Can‘t wait to see how you feel afterwards! I also have a love/hate relationship with Instagram and though I just started my ‘professional’ account, there have been days where I struggle and compare myself to others and then take that feeling offline. It’s not worth it. Being in the moment and enjoying time with family is so much more rewarding! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and coming up with a good action plan!

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