Wake up, grab phone – scroll Instagram. In the checkout line at the store – scroll Instagram. Sit down for dinner – scroll Instagram. Sound familiar? I’ve caught my thumb automatically clicking open the app when unlocking my phone like it was all one action so many times.
There are better ways to spend your time. Living life on purpose is hard to do when you’re consuming whatever Insta throws on your feed. I get it, it’s hard to break away – Instagram’s entire goal is to keep you on their app! But with some small changes, you can break the habit of mindlessly scrolling with this simple plan.
Why should I?
Instagram breeds comparison – we scroll through the curated, picture-perfect glimpses of people’s lives and can’t help compare ourselves to these highlight reels.
It can also be a case of information overload. There are so many ways to live healthfully, so many people claiming something as the best or right way to exercise or eat or whatever – it’s overwhelming!
This article on mindbodygreen (which is in my Friday Five #4) helps you answer the question – do you need a social media detox? It goes through some additional ways Instagram may be ruling your life, but I believe you can make changes without cutting it out completely. Let’s get going.
Start with the positive
What do you like about social media? Maybe you enjoy keeping up with the lives of friends and family (actively or silently – no judgement!). Or you’ve created a community online to hold yourself accountable to your goals. You can also learn from experts and influencers: fashion/bargains, healthy recipes, workouts or fitness programs. Maybe you use social media to find out about local events or news. Or perhaps you want pure entertainment – Trey Kennedy videos, puppies, and commentsbycelebs provide tons!
Start by reflecting about what you want out of Instagram. You get to curate your experience with it!
Go on an unfollow/muting streak
Alright, let’s start morphing your feed into that vision! Go through the accounts you’re following one-by-one. How does this person’s feed make you feel? Less than stellar? Unfollow or mute! There is no reason for you to have photos that make you feel less-than on your feed. This can be for a season or forever – it’s completely up to you.
Also keep stories in mind. Do you spend forever tapping through that person’s stories without getting any value out of it? Mute! You can mute posts, stories, or both. The power is in your hands! I’m a zero-inbox, zero-notification person, so I was constantly watching pointless stories just to make the red circle go away. Now I have a bunch of people muted so I catch up with those that are more important to me and have the option to watch the rest of them if I have the time!
Choose a realistic goal
Okay, now you’ve tweaked your feed to be more your style.
Some people quit cold turkey or do a “social media cleanse,” but I have serious FOMO when I completely avoid Instagram! I set a more realistic (for me at least) goal of an hour per day. The app will even alert you when you’ve spent a certain amount of time on it if you tell it your daily activity setting!
Avoid the Explore tab
Maybe it’s just me, but scrolling through the Explore tab leaves me feeling crumby. Instagram shows posts related to what you engage with, but they don’t have to be accounts you align with or trust. A lot of them on mine are the ones with tons of likes that show beautiful people in some exotic location or a super-organized stocked fridge (or former Bachelor Nation cast members, let’s be honest). My advice is to steer clear of the Explore tab.
I hope these tips will help you change your mindless Instagram habits so it can be foster community and connections rather than comparison and self-doubt for you without a “detox.” Though I will admit, if you delete the app for a week, you might realize you don’t need it in your life as much as you thought!
What is YOUR experience with Instagram?
Do you feel like you’re on Insta too much? What’s on your feed? I’d love to hear about new accounts to follow!
