It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a long time coming. I finally decided to uninstall Facebook from my phone – and together with it, all my other social media apps (Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Reddit and Discord) went to the trash bin.
No, I am not anti-social and I don’t plan on becoming a hermit that lives away from civilization. No, I haven’t switched to TikTok – I fortunately managed to stay away from it until now and I plan to do so from now on too.
I just needed some space, some time, to get back on with my productivity and I understood that social media – whether it was Facebook or Instagram or anything else – didn’t help. On the contrary.
I love my smart phone. I love having my personal assistant (Siri), my calendar, to do lists, shopping lists and budget all at my fingertips.
It helps so much with our personal day to day lives. But, I know personally, I spend a lot of time on my phone, and not in the most useful ways.
I used to spend a large amount of time on Facebook. Then along came it’s best friends Pinterest and Instagram. And my social media time was increased when I became a blogger.
Trying to keep up with the latest news to share, pinning all of my blogging buddies, finding ideas for blog posts, sharing Instagram photos and practicing my photography.
I loved all of these so much, that I forgot about my number 1 job. Being a mom. A wife. A human being part of the real world.
It was easy in the young infant days to spend hours on Facebook and Pinterest. While the baby slept on me for the 3rd nap of the day, I would bring my phone in and scroll away.
Well, this habit didn’t die. It continued and actually got worse. As my son grew, I was always trying to be the person who posted photos and videos, bragged about what he was able to do now and how much I was a ‘supermom’ in a not so humble way, and I realized I was missing out on so much – and not such a ‘supermom’.
So, I deleted social media from my phone. I actually did it. More as an experiment, but I got so much more back.
I realized that once I managed to disconnect myself from the generally fake plush life posted on social media channels, I got more connected with my family and myself.
What I did instead of being on Facebook and other Social Media
I always knew that such apps are huge time waste baskets, but I didn’t really know how much else I can accomplish until I actually took the difficult step of uninstalling them all.
Here are the things that I started doing more of once these distractions went away:
1. I focused on my home
I was able to be present in the moment. I started to find out all of the things in my house that weren’t working, needed to be organized, or what actually was working.
I was focusing more time into how our routines worked rather than how other people’s routines might work for our home. I was able to get more cleaning done, more cooking done and more organizing done.
2. I focused on playing
One thing I have discovered is that my son LOVES to be outside. If he could be outside running around, going down a slide or just blowing bubbles, his life is complete.
I missed watching him so much because I was taking a photo and posting to Instagram or checking in at the park on Facebook.
I wanted to see how many people ‘liked’ what I was doing, instead of going and enjoying it myself.
Not to mention the many occasions when I was tired and feeling miserable, but still had to post and appear happy – living the perfect life, like everybody else, in the perfect bubble.
Yup, you’ve done it too and we’ve all done it also. And we never realize that it’s all a lie.
3. I focused on learning
I am new to a lot in the blogging world. I am new to parenting. I am still a baby in the marriage world.
Social media is great for learning about new tips, techniques and skills in these categories, but I never actually took the time to read them.
Now I carve out time to educate myself instead of just reading the statuses of the day and making them news and educational.
4. I focused on being happy
I loved being able to share my happy moments on social media and seeing all the great things that were happening in my friends’ lives, but I was seeing a lot of other stuff too.
I was seeing opinions and advice that were negative or not encouraging. I was seeing other people’s husbands treating them better than I thought I was being treated.
I was seeing other people’s kids being better behaved than I thought my child was behaving.
I saw kids who were advancing much faster than I thought my son was.
So I started to change my ways, and not for the better. I was more nit-picky to my husband and more agitated. I started to push my son to do things he may not have been developmentally ready for or which he simply didn’t like.
I turned into a person I didn’t like.
When I turned off the social media, I started to look at my situation. I started to be more grateful that my husband does the dishes instead of bringing me home lavish amounts of flowers.
Or so thankful that my son loves to color and wants me to sit with him and color too. Taking away the negativity started to make me feel more grateful.
And being happy is all that matters. That true, real happiness – not the fake one we usually see on social media channels.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that social media is the root of all evil. I love Pinterest for great ideas, I love sharing on Facebook my happy moments and I still take photos all day, but it no longer is my priority to impress others. To report to others. To make them know that I’m doing well.
This all started as taking a break from social media. To see what life would be like not being ‘connected’.
What I got out of this was something totally different than what I expected. I got something so much better than I expected. Because when I disconnected myself from Facebook and other platforms, I got more connected with real life. My family and myself.
And it is so much better.
This is why I am now always ready to urge everyone to give up on all social media. Delete your profile, stop wasting time and focus on the things that matter.
Because, trust me, nothing matters more than your REAL happiness and that of doing well with and for your family.