Hi guys,

Last week I took a week off social media. I deleted all the apps off my phone and turned off email notifications.

I just had enough of it, enough of people acting like they had the perfect lives. No ones life is perfect, a perfect life is non existent. I also had enough of people getting so involved in everyone’s lives, people who we probably have never seen nor spoke to in real life. E.g I put up a story of a co-worker saying after work drinks. For all those who shared it, what really was the need. Over 20 people shared it to people and 60 went back on the story.  Wow a boy that is not my boyfriend is in my story. Who actually cares. I feel that Social Media inspires us all to really get involved with peoples personal lives.

Another story I was just sick of hearing was the Kardashians, yes they are entertaining but to get so involved with the whole relationship between Khloe’s boyfriend and Kylie’s mate, who gives a crap. Acting as if these are people you know well. They are just reality TV stars, and in relating the situation was probably all put on act as they have their new show coming out. We have issues like Brexit and Climate change which should be more important and more publicised than the Kardashians.

I always try be positive on social media. Not to be perfect but maybe in the hope to share positivity around social media instead of being a toxic influencer sharing the must have items. Yes I’m aware I have done a few fashion posts but I only do it for fun not to pressurise people into buying this seasons trends.

Social media is portrayed as being quite negative. It is only negative if you make it. Stop constantly comparing yourself to super models or influencers that have filter after filter. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself. Compare yourself to being a better person, to be A more positive about your life and be thankful of what all your have.

From spending a week of social media I found I had so much more free time, I was relaxed. I felt so much more productive not refreshing feeds or checking notifications. I actually felt free from social media. I went to the Gym nearly every day as I had so much free time in the evenings. I downloaded the kindle app on my phone and downloaded a few books (mostly travel guides as I am always fascinated in reading about our beautiful world.)

I realised how much time is actually spent on social media. So much time is wasted which could be used on something more valuable like talking to your friends and family members and actually be interested. You can now see how much time you spend online on social media now through various methods, and it’s quite concerning to see the amount of usage I have had on certain apps/sites, however this week without social media I was on my phone for an hour maximum each day. Compared to the week before which was averaging on 3/4 hours each day. It is actually mad to think something like social media can take over our lives.

I also noticed such a difference in my battery life on my phone in the evenings. Before I would have had to at least charge my phone by the end of day or be on 5% when getting into bed. I had been above 60% each day. It just really showed.

One thing was great was waking up in the morning and not going onto Instagram or Facebook scrolling looking at what everyone has been getting up to. I just had time to think about myself and time to get ready in the mornings getting up for work as I usually would spend 10 minutes to long in bed due to looking at social media.

I got stuff on my To-do list that has been on it for months done. I applied for Uni programmes which I always said I never had time for. I properly cleaned my room not just threw everything into a corner. It really felt great.

I noticed my mood changing. I was having more social interaction with actual people rather than people online. I felt much more positive.

When talking to people and mentioning me doing a week social media detox, reactions would have been;

• “I couldn’t give it up”
• “I could give it up but I don’t need a break from it”
• “I only use it to waste time”

Things like this made me think, this is the reason why more people need to have a social media detox. We rely on it far to much. We all need a break and actually enjoy human interaction more than social media interaction.

From having a social media detox, I wont be stopping blogging as it is a hobby which I love and wont stop posting on social platforms, but I will be more conscious of how long I’m on my phone for and how little time I will be using my phone around people. I also will be going through my follows list and getting rid of anyone I feel that brings a negative impact to my time on social media. It may seem harsh but whats the point of surrounding yourself of negative people.

I hope this will help others to have a social media detox and realise how much time we actually spend on it.

Love Frans Travels x