Life Update/Taking Social Media Breaks

It feels like I have not blogged in forever but it feels so good to be writing again after a couple of weeks off. This summer especially I have found myself busier, listening to my body more, working on being more present and doing more things off my phone, and really focusing on my priorities. Our summers are always very go-go-go with little downtime to make the most out of the nice weather that the Seattle area only sees this time of year. While summer is my absolute favorite time of year and always a ton of fun, in a way it’s almost stressful because I always want to do so many things during summer and only have X many weekends to do everything before the weather turns again. As a girl who thrives in nice weather, it can be very challenging since we only see nice weather about 3-4 months out of the year. Not to mention I also started a new job at the start of summer and have been spending time really focusing on my career and succeeding in my new role during the weekdays.

I feel like all of these things combined have led to a bit of burnout with social media and me redefining my priorities. Social media and blogging is obviously a very big part of my life and my true passion project, but lately, with Instagram especially, I have found myself not in the mood to be posting as much and have realized how much time I used to waste by mindlessly scrolling through the app multiple times per day. Over the past few weeks, I have really found myself redefining my priorities and spending less and less time on my phone per day. And it’s actually been so nice and I’ve noticed myself feeling so much happier and less stressed because of it. The fact that I was starting to feel stressed with it in general, I just knew it was time and okay to take a little break and really listen to my body. On busy days during the week and one day on the weekends, I have been loving going social media free and just overall being present in whatever I’m doing and it has already made a huge difference and is the reset I need to feel refreshed.

I have reconnected with other activities and hobbies that don’t involve my phone like going out on long hikes on the weekends and spending almost the whole day disconnected without any wifi, spending more time out in nature, getting back into art and other creative activities I enjoyed growing up to refuel my creative passions, reading more books, and just being more go with the flow and overall not stressing about what might be happening on IG and getting over that FOMO.

But I have to say, I feel like another big part of this social media hiatus is also from all of the changes Instagram has made this year. I’ve just found it less and less fun to use and definitely not what it was just two years ago. It’s also made me stop and think about new strategies and my brand going forward and how I want that to look now that video content is trending. While I am not the type of girl to get into posting all those trendy types of TikToks and Reels that go viral, I’ve found myself just posting what I like to share and just doing my own thing. But it has definitely been challenging and a learning process exploring this new space!

Now that Summer is coming close to an end and Fall is closer and closer, I am very excited to get back into a more regular routine of blogging and have spent a lot of time this summer brainstorming new ideas I have for my little corner of the internet here.

If you’ve been feeling burned out lately from social media and the influencer space lately, this is your sign that it’s okay to take a break! While it may not feel productive to take a break, know that it always is and regular social media-free weekends can really do wonders!

What are your thoughts on social media lately?

Shop today’s look below via my LIKEtoKNOW.it commissionable links: