A Behind the Scenes Look At My Social Media Break

So you may or may not know that a little while ago that I stopped going on social media, specifically, Instagram. I wanted to share a little about my experience. Maybe you can relate? I needed a break. My time and attention was always being taken away from me. Without even thinking I was opening the app and clicking “add more time” to the boundary I was trying to up hold. Reflecting so much on screen time for kids, especially after teaching online for the past two years. When I realized that I no longer had anything to talk about. I had a million screenshots of things I never looked back on, making folders and saving ideas. But didn’t have the stamina to ever go back and read more about it. Then it dawned on me. The biggest thing.

My attention span was literally at zero

Like, I could not focus and follow through on simple tasks like “read more about this” on an article I actually cared about. Long story short, I decided to try a month and just deleted the app off my phone. That month turned into learning about starting and growing an email list. Then rebranding my website. Followed by dreaming about the reality of extending my maternity leave. That month also turned into six months. Six glorious months of actually not thinking about social media. Subscribing to my favourite bloggers, teachers, online educators, shops, and food websites. Actually reading the emails and absorbing the information and learning about things I genuinely cared about and had an interest in. Worked through the stack of magazines I had always loved and just never got around to reading (like a year’s worth). Left my phone in the kitchen at bedtime and fell asleep easily after reading a chapter of my book. Woke up to the world around me.

I was present during the day without ever needing social media

I left my phone on the counter, I texted friends when I thought about them, I kept my inbox tidy, and my list of dreams and goals started to not look so scary. Connecting with friends and family by Facetime and sharing pictures of what my day or week was looking like.

Oh, I also left my phone upstairs if we watched TV. I was definitely that person who was ‘watching tv’ but was actually just on my phone the whole time. Do you know how hard it is for your brain to be doing more than one thing at a time ALL THE TIME. It’s exhausting, not to mention scary when you think about it. You need time to slow down and have thoughts. 

Growing those thoughts, not lists of things you need to do, but just thoughts about things you are curious or interested about is important. It’s a beautiful thing to practice. I truly don’t think we do this enough.

Especially during the school day. I feel like so much was going on in my classroom sometimes, that I didn’t get to enjoy what I was teaching. Every time that happened, I reminded myself to slow down, to breathe, to set my phone down during my breaks, and instead observe. 

So when the time came to get back on social media

I was ‘ready’ to share all the work I had been doing for my business, I realized that I would probably need to ‘come back’ to social media. This is hard for me to say, and share with the world, but I feel like I don’t even know how to use it anymore. It doesn’t bring me joy. It feels overwhelming. I don’t know what to share because my days look soooo different. And honestly, it feels like it immediately started taking my time away again.

Listen, I KNOW you may love it. I KNOW you may feel like you need to find that one thing you can do in your classroom tomorrow. Or next week. And I KNOW you may feel like it’s helping you.

But what if you:

Started to not go on once a week.

Spent that time getting ahead in your lesson planning? Feeling free to ideas that may pop in your head about your teaching and what your students are learning?

Did something you don’t totally love – like cleaning up your inbox, calling a parent, finding a new recipe for dinner. (By the way, you can totally like doing all those things, I do!). The point is, when you give yourself time and energy instead of giving social media that time and energy, you’ll start to feel different. And it feels great. 

Now I’m at a little bit of an impasse because I know how many teachers are using Instagram, I know that I can help them and I know that my page can be a space that helps teachers find their spark of creativity in long-range planning.

It’s more of a me thing now. Figuring out new boundaries, not falling into old habits that don’t serve me and choosing how Instagram looks for my business.

And that comes down to time spent on socials

How can I save time, be valuable and help teachers see their value in the classroom? It’s by being authentic, sharing my experiences and having you, yes you, tell a teacher friend about me. I really believe that we need to stick together, share our teaching with a friend or peer and be excited about teaching again. 

So please help me out. 

Share this blog post with a friend. 

Download my FREE Pacing Guide to get you started on refreshing or figuring out your long-range plans for next year. 

And most importantly, start thinking about how you spend your time and how you wish you were spending your time, and start to do that instead.