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Why Social Media Breaks Are a Must

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I often find that when I am constantly on social media, my creative juices start to run dry. Between constantly consuming other people's content, feeling like I have to engage, and like to build my own community, and trying to stay relevant, I start to feel brunt out. I start to feel like anything I post needs to be perfect and super high quality, if it underperforms, I start to resent posting.

The more I’m on social media, the worse it gets. The burn-out just keeps building, I start to focus and worry about my following account, likes, and engagement instead of just posting what makes me happy.

The whole reason I started my social media was to share what I love with other people who enjoy it as well. I started it so I could post what I loved, and if other people liked it or resonated with it, great; if not, oh well. Now I get so consumed with my follower count that I often forget to just post when I want and what I want.

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So, What Should You Do?

First, take a break from social media. Turn it off, step away from it, and let it sit for a few days. When I start to feel burn out I often make one last post/story letting my followers know that I am taking a break, but WILL be back.

Letting your followers and community know that you are taking a break helps keep them involved and makes sure they don't feel like you just disappeared on them.

Another thing I do to help with burnout is I stop watching others' content for a while. Now Im not saying completely stop engaging with others, but slow down and stop just scrolling. I often step away from my FYP and just focus on my own content. This makes it so I stop consuming others' ideas and start creating my own unique ideas.

A Few Tips and Tricks

When you make a post, turn on DO NOT DISTURB. This way, you won't get a bunch of notifications while you're trying to take a quick break. (Plus, for some reason, I've found when I do this, my posts do better, weird right?)

Set your screen time. Only allow your phone to let you be on social media for a certain amount of time per day. I normally allow for 1 hour for each social media app I have. This way, I still have time to engage when I need to, but am not scrolling all day.

When you feel a creative spark, act on it. Whenever creativity sparks, I instantly write the idea down or save the sound that inspired me. That way, when you go to do a content batch, you have your ideas all ready and just have to make the content. Be very specific on how you want your content to work, then you won't forget what your idea was.

Make batch content, that way when you don't feel creative, you have some content to share without having to create something new.

Breaks Are Necessary

Don't feel bad for taking a break. Everyone needs a break and a little time to reset. No one is going to be upset with you for taking a social media break, and if they are, they're not really there for you.
Even big creators take breaks from social media when they need to. Don't push yourself to post; most of the time, if you're not feeling like posting or creating your posts will show that and will affect your engagement.