Give Social Media the Boot Your Way

You already know that taking time away from social media can be a huge boost for family togetherness, but did you know that you don't always have to hop off long-term or opt-out completely to achieve that boost?

It's true.

I've done it both ways, and here's why:

Sometimes, I have to unplug from everyone else's lives completely to be the very best version of myself. Sometimes, it's too much for me, and I spend more of my time, attention, and focus there than I mean to.

Sometimes social media makes it difficult to be present with my family.

That's when I need to step off completely to recalibrate.

But other times, it's just the scrolling that's the problem, and I don't want to sacrifice the good stuff just to get away from the rest.

I've met some really amazing people on social media and I want them to be a part of my life, so I need to find a way to make it work.

And then there's the consideration of the seasons.

Personally, I keep hearing a calling in my soul to rest, and for years, my answer has been a steady, “Okay, just one more thing first.”

And now I find myself with a body, mind, soul, spirit, and family that cannot wait for rest any longer.

Rest is a season like winter. A season as important to nature as the beautiful, glorious summer. It’s a season as important to family togetherness as all the others, too.

And it’s a season I’ve been skipping for way too long. I’m not skipping it this year, though. I'm not letting social media convince me otherwise, either.

What would happen in our families if we stopped scrolling for 30 days and leaned into people with more intentionality?

I'm determined to find out.

If this is where you're at too, let me know. I'd love some company.

Here's how I'm doing it:

#1 - Setting intention.

I'm determined not to spend my life scrolling through photos of other people's lives when I could be living mine, but I do want to check in with my friends, make new friends, and find out what's going on in their worlds while telling them what's going on in mine.

So, my intention is to skip the scrolling and go straight to the people who lift me up. I search for their names, comment on their posts, see if there are any new friends I need to connect with, and hop off.

#2 - Tracking progress.

A trick I learned from Elise Cripe is to give yourself credit for the number of days you keep your commitment, even if the days aren't consecutive. So, I color in a bubble every day I get it right, and on the days I don't, I don't color a bubble. That way it's the progress that counts, not the streak.

#3 - Keeping it in front of me on paper.

Here's the checklist I'm using. (Download your free copy here.)

I just started this new way of doing social media this week, and I'm already finding so much peace, rest, and family togetherness because of it.

I hope the same thing happens for you.

As an added bonus, skipping the scrolling and getting in and out of social media in a jiffy opens up way more time for fun stuff with our families. (Mine got to ENJOY OUR VERY FIRST MAINE SNOW DAY this week!)

What would you rather be doing than scrolling social media?

Hop into our email group and let me know.