5 Things I Learned From Deleting My Instagram for 30 Days
As a digital marketing manager I understand the irony of deleting Instagram, but I’m also a health coach and I truly believe that everyone needs a good clean out every now and then. Sometimes that’s Whole30 and sometimes it’s a break from social media. And trust me, it’s as good for companies as it is for you. Do you really want to see another ad from the detox tea you tried that one time that just gave you bad gas? Probably not. Unfollow them. Trust me, they don’t want to be pissing you off every time they show up in your feed either. As we are bombarded by an increasing number of messages every day it’s more important than ever for us to curate our feeds, to chose the brands we follow and support. And it’s better for them to have an accurate representation of their fans. The real benefit of taking a break and coming back is that we get to make some choices above and beyond the automatic scrolling we’ve fallen into.
Thirty-one days ago I was scrolling through Instagram and feeling sorry for myself looking at all the beautiful recipes, perfect yoga poses, white living rooms with exposed shelving and perfect marriages. I went through everything I wasn’t, all the things everyone was doing better than I was. I looked at the carefully curated, crafted rows of interesting travels and perfect families and I was filled with self-loathing.
I will never look like that in a bikini (especially not in that pose, what IS THAT POSE?). My house looks less like a scene from Dwell Magazine and more like Hemingway’s Cigar lounge and my chicken cacciatore certainly doesn’t look like that.
Self-love is hard. The ego is fragile and susceptible to cracking. It takes hard work and practice and a life full of gratitude and intentionality to hold it all together. And you’re still going to have bad days. So, I decided to practice a little restraint and do an experiment on myself. I deleted Instagram for 30 days and I learned a few things.
1. AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THIS.
I’m busy. You’re busy. We are all so busy. We complain about not having enough time, we complain about being stressed out. And we are! But we also fill in all the empty spaces in our life with quick (or not so quick) scrolls through idealized versions of other people’s lives. Wait, what. Yup. Instead of taking time to breathe, check-in, send someone a nice text or read a good book we just waste all of our time scrolling. We even do it when we’re already in the middle of being busy. It’s become a habit we play out without thinking about it. That is some weird shit. Take a break.
2. INSTAGRAM IS NOT REAL LIFE.
People spend hours, weeks, months crafting their Instagram content. They have photoshoots, they make content calendars, they put their best foot/face/apartment/living room forward. It’s intentional and it’s not the whole picture. Their laundry is just outside of that frame and they have to clean up all that damn peanut butter they just drizzled all over their countertop to take that smoothie picture. Gross.
3. I DON’T ACTUALLY WANT THEIR LIFE.
My yoga teacher, Liz Mead, brought this up during class the other night. She said, “Do you really want their life? Because if you do then you have to give up yours.” You have to give up your sister, or your boyfriend or husband or kids or cat or whatever it is. You’re really willing to trade all that to get super amazing eyelashes or shave off 10 pounds? Didn’t think so. If you take on their life you take on their problems too…and you lose all the things you love the most about your own. You just want a piece of their life and when you put it all in context it doesn’t really sound that great.
4. STOP FOLLOWING PEOPLE THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE SHIT.
Is that one Instagram account you follow with the marble countertops and the perfect smoothies and the insanely unrealistic daily routine (like when do they work??) making you feel like shit every time you see it? STOP FOLLOWING THEM. In fact, just literally delete everyone that makes you feel smaller or less accomplished every time you scroll past one of their posts. Keep the people you care about, the accounts that inspire you, that add value to your life and kick the other ones to the curb. BYE.
5. GRATITUDE IS THE CURE.
I started my month out with a long ass list of things I really care about and am grateful for. It started with my boyfriend, went through a list of friends, bowed deeply to my yoga teacher training experience, touched lightly on a glass of rose and ended with a cookbook and a cup of coffee. At the end of it, I wrote, “I must be the luckiest person in the whole world.” And I felt a little silly for feeling sorry for myself in the first place.
Not everyone uses Instagram as a tool of comparison, and if that’s you, more power to you. But for most of it, I bet it is. What do you think? Would you try it? If you do we would love to hear about them. Drop some ideas in the comments below.
