Why there’s no shame in taking a break from your social media this Christmas

You know me. I LIVE and BREATHE social media. To the point where some people might say I’m a little bit obsessed.

You might think that’s a good thing, given that I’ve been running my own social media agency for quite a few years now! And it is, mostly. It means I’m always ahead of the curve; always testing new approaches to find out what works.

But every now and then, even I need to take a little break from the hourly scroll, for the sake of my own mental health.

Why I decided to disappear for a few days

Back in November, I let you all know that I was going to enjoy a week off from my feeds.

There were a few reasons behind this decision.

Number one: I recognised that I was spending too much time in front of the screen, and I wanted to practice being more present for my little boy. I do think it’s important to lead by example, and although there’s a very valid reason why I’m constantly glued to my phone, I don’t want my son to mimic my behaviour, or feel like I’m not giving him the attention he deserves.

Secondly: I’d been doing a LOT of selling in the weeks running up to my decision. I launched my first ever online course, Instabrains, back in October, so understandably I needed to shout about that (and I was so proud of it, I couldn’t help myself!). Then, before long, I was screaming from the rooftops about my NOT Black Friday Flash Sale.

By the 25^th, I was exhausted by my socials. Absolutely knackered. I’d spent hours upon hours monitoring my accounts for engagement, and I needed to switch off from it all. So, I decided to head offline for a few days, until my next live on 1^st December with my special guest Shelley Bosworth Coaching (which was awesome, by the way).

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because although I don’t think we should ever need to explain our decisions for wanting time away from our social media accounts, I also want to show you that even those in the social media business need to take scheduled breaks away from the digital chaos every now and then.

I’d be a hypocrite if I advised my clients and followers to go offline when they need to – like I did in this post – without heeding my own advice.

If it feels too tough, let it go

With Christmas just around the corner, it can be tempting to go into a sales frenzy, and try to secure as many last-minute orders or bookings as you can while your audience is in full-on ‘buying’ mode.

While this might be an important time of year for your business, it might be a really stressful (and potentially triggering) few weeks for you personally, too.

There’s so much to do. So many people to see. So many presents to buy. So many mixed feelings to deal with, especially if you’ve lost somebody close to you and you see Christmas as a constant reminder of how much you miss them.

You’ve also got all the ‘new year, new you’ messaging to deal with, when you just might not be in the right headspace to think about 2023 just yet.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a few days, or even weeks, to yourself. When life feels overwhelming, there’s no need to share everything online.

Obviously, if you are an entrepreneur, there is the very real argument that you might miss out on new opportunities while you’re re-grounding yourself.

Have you considered passing your social media tasks over to someone else in your business, even temporarily?

Or perhaps even outsourcing your content creation and post scheduling duties to someone like myself, who can keep things ticking over until you’re ready to pick up the work again?

I want you to know that there are ALWAYS options, and you should NEVER feel like you have to keep showing up when your mind and body are telling you it’s time to rest.

Take the time to reconnect with yourself and your loved ones. Enjoy the festivities, if you want to. Do something that makes you happy, if Christmas isn’t your ‘thing’. The world – and more specifically, your customers – will still be here when you get back, and they’ll love hearing all about your adventures and experiences when you’re ready to start posting again!