Over the last two months, I’ve stepped back from pretty much all of my social media platforms. I’ve taken time to figure out what’s most important to me, and have made a plan on how things will be moving forward. With all that I have going on, I really just needed a good break. Honestly, everyone deserves a good break. Everyone deserves to take some time, even if it’s just a day, to take care of themselves.
I previously wrote about ways that you can take time for yourself. Since then, I have a new understanding of what that means.
For the last 8 weeks I’ve been student teaching. That itself has been draining but it has also taught me how to prioritize things in my life. Before starting my teaching program, I was heavily focused on creating content for Youtube, Instagram, and my blog. It was fun, and still is, but I found that because I didn’t really have a plan, I kept getting burnt out. I hadn’t established how I wanted this to fit into my life. In addition, I have personal goals and goals for my marriage. Trying to juggle all of this at once made me feel exhausted every. single. day!
Thankfully, I realized that the best thing to do was to take a break from all things that weren’t serving me or my purpose and reclaim my time. Here are some things that I’ve done during this time:
Released the pressure of posting to social media
It’s so easy to get caught up in the hype. Seeing my creator friends killing it made me so happy. I was truly excited for them but I also felt a sense of guilt. There was a feeling of guilt because it was like I was leaving my audience hanging. I also felt like I just wasn’t doing enough. I noticed a dramatic decrease in engagement and even lost a few followers. However, I know my worth as a creator and I’ve built such a great community. I know that when I’m ready to come back, those who truly want to see me win will still be there to welcome me with open arms. Knowing that really helped ease my mind.
Set limits on my devices
This one goes along with the first point but takes it a little further. Whenever I’m bored, or even when I’m not lol, I have a habit of picking up my phone and aimlessly scrolling. I would spend soooooo much time on my phone. I was averaging 7, yes SEVEN, hours a day. To me, that’s extensive. I challenged myself to get this down to 4 hours or less per day. Initially, I thought it was going to be hard but I jumped right in was able to get down to about 3-4 hours a day. I use all of that extra time to read, spend meaningful time with my husband, rest, and just live in the moment.
Made a list and prioritized
The things that are most important to me at this moment are my health and well-being, my marriage, and my student teaching program. Less-important things (but things I still want to nurture) include maintaining my social media presence and other relationships. I’m not saying I’ve found the perfect balance and it’s always perfect because it’s not. However, I’m working on it. Every single day.
Living and Loving Life
This is probably the most important thing that I’ve done. I’ve allowed myself to let go of the unrealistic expectations that society often places on us. Ya know, the idea that you have to be working nonstop to be successful, sleep is for the dead, everyone should want to work for themselves, blah blah blah. At this point in my life, I’m just doing what I can to the best of my ability, loving life along the way, and thriving.
I say all of that to say….
take a good break!
You deserve it! As aunty Maxine said, “reclaim your time”. Don’t let anyone make you feel less than because you aren’t living life the same way as them. I understand taking a break isn’t always easy. Nonetheless, I challenge you to take one. Even if only for a day or a few hours out of the day.
