What I learned from giving up social media for Lent.

For Lent this year, I gave up social media. More specifically, Instagram, as that’s the platform I’ve struggled with the most. But regardless, I stayed away from social media for the entirety of Lent, and the results honestly surprised me. I know that social media detox is all the rage right now, but for me, since I gave up social media for Lent, it’s a bit different. I went over 46 days without logging on to any social media platform. No scrolling. No Lives. No stories. Nothing.

Uh, What’s Lent?

I feel like before I can continue talking about my fast from social media, I need to real quick talk about what Lent is. There may be some folks reading that aren’t familiar with this Christian season of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer. So I want to make sure I share what it is and why I chose to give up social media.

Here’s is a great explanation of what Lent is from The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

“Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ’s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.”

I chose to give up social media because I realized that it had become an all-consuming giant in my life. The moment I was bored, annoyed, or with any free moment, I hopped on Instagram. So instead of living true to my own personal beliefs of what I deem important as a Christian, wife, mom, author, friend, neighbor, daughter, sister, and aunt – I traded it all for the rabbit hole that’s social media.

40 + Days without Social Media

Right now, it’s been 50 days since I was last on social media. Easter Sunday came and went, and I have yet to jump back on. Why? I’m honestly hesitant to. I’ve enjoyed not having social media hanging over my head. The freedom from it has been incredible, and I’m a bit weary of allowing it to have the reign that it once did on me.

During this social media detox, I’ve found that I’ve:

Enjoyed being more creative.
Spent more time enjoying my family and friends.
Read more than I have in years.
Dug deep into Scripture and prayer time.
I’ve taken way fewer photos but have taken way more meaningful photos.
I’ve spent less money since I’ve seen fewer ads (we don’t have regular TV) and been influenced less.
I’ve lost weight. Sounds weird, I know, but I’ve lost weight. I believe this is due to the fact that I’m not caught in the escapism of scrolling anymore. Walking or running is a lot more fun when I’m not looking down at my phone.

What I’ve Learned

Social media is fun. I do honestly enjoy getting to interact with my readers in a much more personal way. And I’ve always been the queen of oversharing, even long before social media was a thing. But what I’ve learned is that social media became where I lived. Instead of living in my actual life, I lived in the virtual world. Even when I wasn’t actively on a social media site, I’d find myself thinking of the next post/reel/story I was going to post. I’d take photos with the only intention being to share on social media. Nothing else.

I wasn’t living.

So I won’t be getting back on social media until I have found a way to properly budget my time there.

I mean, I budget my money, so why haven’t I been budgeting my time? After all, time is not something that I can make more of, unlike money. We all only have 24 hours in a day, and here I was, wasting much of it in a virtual world that did not make me bring me any sort of dividends.

How to Know if Social Media Has Become an Idol in Your Life.

I know that all the Christians reading this know what I mean by “idol,” but for those that don’t – any time we allow something in our life to have control over us, we are making it an idol. We may not be bowing down and worshipping it per see but we’re allowing it to have significant control over our well-being. Here’s how to know that your social media usage has become a problem:

You’re feeling less than – FOMO, insecurity, comparison, etc.
You’re not sleeping well.
The doomsday scroll- it’s like watching a car wreck over and over again. As you scroll, you can’t stop yourself from spiraling down the dark hole of hopelessness.
You’re anxious. Fun fact – a lot of anxiety is related to a failure to take proper action.
You check your phone constantly.
Weird neck/head/shoulder pain. That constant looking down at your screen can wreck your physical health.

So what should you do?

Well, if you ask my husband, he will tell you that social media is from the devil. I don’t necessarily share those feelings, but I do believe that if you feel anxious or out of control, or listless in your life, you should go on at least a 30-day social media detox. It’s not easy. That habit is built in, and you’ll find yourself checking and reaching for your phone without being conscience aware that you’re doing it. You may need to delete the app from your phone altogether. Or find an accountability partner. I’m a huge fan of tracking your progress. No matter what, do what you can to stick to it. I promise that it’s worth it. I didn’t think it would be, but the benefits I’ve gained from it have been incredible. And I think you’ll benefit too. And if you’re a Christian maybe try a devotional or Bible study during your social media fast?