What Would You Do With a Month off Social Media?

I took the month of July off of social media.

It's August and now I'm back.

I paused on my social channels and creating new content to focus on finishing my book. On July 1, I posted this out of office message on my social media accounts. Feel free to swipe this idea. 

And I did it — I got it off to my editor for copyediting on Friday.

In addition to focusing on my book in July, I also:

• Maintained a full client load with a few retainer copywriting clients

• Pitched a dozen podcasts and recorded on 5 of them

• Ran roughly 40 hours of live writing and coaching sessions with the Unfussy Writing Community members

• Had 1:1 calls and copy reviews with a handful of coaching

• Had a handful of consult calls with potential clients — 2 became clients

• Sent a few dozen personalized follow-up messages to former clients, members, and my network.

Oh, and I also continued to work less than 30 hours a week, and don’t work weekends. We eat takeout once or twice a week, and the kids have sports a few days a week these days.

I track all the time I invest in my business. Here are some key numbers for July:

• There are 22 workdays in July 

• 130 hours total for all work — including client hours, coaching, book work, and behind-the-scenes business stuff

• This works out to just under 6 hours a day

• 15 hours of this was book time at my computer. Now, the book editing I did offline was probably another 10 hours or so. I’m estimating I spent about 25 hours in July focused on my book, which is about 1 whole week of work out of the month

If you’re reading this and thinking holy shit, how do I do so much in so little time? It’s about focus. When I’m working, I’m working. When I’m not (well, I might be thinking about work), but I’m resting, moving my body, reading, and keeping my brain sharp.

Back to the social media pause. 

Something interesting happened when I pressed pause. Sure, I wasn’t scrolling anymore. I still used Facebook to manage my writing community and certain groups and stay connected with a few select communities.

But something different happened. 

I figure if I use social media for an hour a day, that would be 22 hours I would have spent on social media in July.

Instead, I spent that time focusing on my book. 

Could I have used social media less and focused on my book? Sure. But it came down to more than just time. It was also about focus.

Tuning out the noise, things I didn’t need to know about. Stuff I need to know about makes it to my inbox, text message, or the dinner table. I consciously and intentionally learned about news for the day, and then got back to work.

Now for the interesting insights. 

1. People reached out to me to see if I was okay. They wondered where I went. This was interesting to me I guess because I didn’t expect it.

2. Some folks told me they were jealous, or they could only dream about taking a month off of social media. I find it so interesting how being social on social media has become such a powerful should for business owners. 

3. Catching up takes more effort without social. This is interesting because when I was on social media, I’d know what was going on in others’ life lives. I wouldn't need to ask and they wouldn't need to tell me. 

4. I began to wonder if we avoid deep one-on-one communication because we engage on social media. 

5. Some people assumed I knew what was going on with them because they posted about it. Some real-life friends (who I'm also connected with on social media) would skip the catch-up when we got together. They assumed I had been reading all their updates, and I knew what was new in their lives. In reality, I had no idea. Just because you put something out there, doesn't mean everyone will notice, see, hear, or listen.

6. I prefer going deeper. This INFJ prefers small groups and one-on-one conversations.

7. I spent more time reading.

8. I spent more time than ever laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, or sitting on the porch, or sitting at the beach, and swimming in the ocean.

9. More space for movement. I did some form of exercise 4-6 days each week, and for the first time in my life, I got consistent with a yoga practice.

10. I treated my body and mind better. My brain is my #1 tool I need to keep clear and sharp. For my brain, I listen to a self-hypnosis audio 3-4 times a week. For me, eating well means mostly plant-based keto (totally possible), no gluten ever (hello bloat), teensy amounts of dairy on a rare occasion (ouch my belly), and meat once a day or less. Also, implementing seed cycling, egg wisdom, timing specific work tasks with my cycle, the moon, and all kinds of things that might make you say, WHAT THE FUCK? I’ll keep sharing more on these things if you want to know.

Coming off a social media pause and then jumping back in is like walking into a loud party. Except I’m in my comfiest clothes, and the disco ball and floodlights are blinding. If I didn’t jump in slowly, I’d run the other direction and head straight home to my couch to hide under a blankie.

I’m grateful for the lessons I learned, an almost finished book, and the warm welcome I received when I returned. 

2021 Update: the book is here!

Could you skip social media for a day, a weekend, a week, or a month? 

What would happen if you instead focused on deepening the connections you already have? Who do you want to experience a deeper conversation with? Do you want to go deeper with fewer people instead of keeping it high level with more people? 

If you’re an intuitive feeling type, you might be feeling a HELL YES. 

Maybe this is your invitation to give it a try.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll like these too:

• 8 Important lessons from a 30-day social media pause

• NaNoWriMo - How I Stayed Motivated Through 60,000 Words

• What choices will you make in the name of greatness?

There are affiliate links in this article — if you click and buy something, I may earn a small commission. I’ll probably use it to buy wine.