49 Health Benefits Of A Social Media Detox

Here’s what you can expect:

1. You become aware of how you use your time and start to use it more efficiently.
2. You use your phone less often – and automatically take less pictures (yes, this is possible! ;-)) 
3. You reconnect with your creativity because you are not busy watching the creativity of others.
4. When you reconnect with your creativity, it might make you more productive.
5. At the same time, you reconnect with yourself and other people in your “real” life.
6. You find new (and hopefully positive) sources of entertainment in the non-digital world.
7. You realize that your brain likes to trick you unconsciously, for example by automatically tapping on your most used social media app when you open your phone.
8. You learn to deal with FOMO (the fear of missing out).
9. You don’t compare yourself so much anymore.
10. You get calmer and less anxious.
11. You easily notice other time-consuming sources.
12. In general, you become more self-aware.
13. Your relationship with social media changes. It becomes more distant which will benefit you in the long-run. Just make sure you have a crystal clear plan when coming back because otherwise you will fall back into old patterns.
14. You become more intentional with your energy.
15. You become more focused.
16. You become aware of the reason why you post in the first place.You learn how to deal with boredom when scrolling through social is no longer an option.
17. You realize that most of the random posts shown on social media do not provide any value to your life.
18. You start to appreciate the analog world again, you might start to use real alarm clocks or cameras.
19. You become independent from likes and reactions.
20. You experience how liberating and refreshing a social media detox can be, for your brain, body and spirit.
21. Your life becomes more calm and peaceful.
22. You will start to appreciate your privacy – not everything you do needs to be on Instagram.
23. You will be focused on the present moment and enjoy it without wanting to take a picture thinking “what’s the best angle, lighting, background, etc”.
24. You will get to understand that just because you don’t talk about it online (about the trip/the outfit/the event/fill in the blank), the experience will still be valuable to you.
25. You will seek real-life connections and focus on meeting and talking to people in the real world.
26. Therefore, your real-life relationships will improve.
27. You automatically teach your brain not to care so much about social media anymore because you will start to focus on other things that will become more important to you.
28. You feel liberated mentally.
29. You learn how it feels to take responsibility for your actions.
30. Once you have got used to the detox phase, you don’t even miss social media or won’t even look forward to getting back to it.
31. You replace the time on social with more meaningful things.
32. By the end, you are most probably more fulfilled and balanced than before.
33. You let the part of you go who was addicted to social validation, and automatically evolve into the next version of yourself.
34. You will start to live more intentionally.
35. The further you get away from social media, the further you want to be away from social media.
36. You realize how valuable time is, when you start to spend it alone.
37. You realize your value and your impact that you can have on other people with your conversations and actions.
38. You feel more centered, balanced and at peace.
39. Although you are not on social media, you don’t miss out on anything which would bring true value to your life.
40. Instagram or any other social media platform will become irrelevant or unimportant to you.
41. If you come back to social, you will unfollow all accounts that make you feel bad about yourself.
42. You will want to follow only profiles that give you some sort of value.
43. When you come back to social, you realize when you fall back into old thinking or behavioral patterns again that don’t serve you anymore.
44. You will come up with an individual plan when and how long you will consume Instagram.
45. You might not come back to social at all.
46. You focus more on yourself and your own life instead of the lives of others.
47. In general, your mental health improves.
48. You feel more in charge of your life.
49. You truly realize how much of a distraction social media can be if not used intentionally.

Social media definitely has its benefits – and I still love and enjoy it to the fullest, but only when I consume it in moderation.

Think about it this way, if you consume a lot of junk food daily, your body won’t feel at its best, and it won’t work at its best because it thrives better on more nutritious food. The same applies to the mind.

Becoming aware of any – automated – behavior that might not be of benefit to you, is always the first step to take your power back. Then take little actionable steps to create the balance you need. 

My personal experience during and after my 3 months long social media detox was mind-blowing and it changed the quality of my life for good. I wrote about my experience in this piece: 

What about you? Do you dare to try it? Let me know in the comments below. 

Here are the the 10 Youtubers who I used for the above list plus my own experience:

1. Rob McGarr – Social media detox period: 30 days

How quitting social media changed my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBOMI-fBtE0

Social media detox period: 30 days

2. Jonathan Hawkins – Social media detox period: 1 year

A year without social media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iQaxvqVGSM

3. Yes Theory – Social media detox period: 30 days

Deleting social media for 30 days changed my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA5Ilzauebo

4. Lavendaire – Social media detox period: 5 days

Quitting social media: Social media detox challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1PjFiUbHo&t=161s

5. Matt D’Avella – Social media detox period: 30 days

The 30 day social media detox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXInjuTkjoM

6. Day Cyberwox – Social media detox period: for good

Why I quit social media in 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA6xVkZ_5CY

7. Radically Chill – Social media detox period: 5 years

Why I quit social media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N51yPu6uScc

8.Yessi Ibara – Social media detox period: for good

6 reasons why I quit social media 5 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dfDs6lKq4Y

9. Six miles to supper – Social media detox period: 1 year

I deleted my social media a year ago – Why I did it and why my life changed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7B9iT7zlA8

10. realizing erin – Social media detox period: 1 ⅔ years

I quit Instagram & it changed my life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZO4I19k4g