What I Learned from Taking a Month Off Instagram
For a few years, I’ve wanted to ditch Instagram (IG), to go back to a time when social media wasn’t part of my life. I’d daydream about my high school years when I hadn’t yet created a Facebook or IG account (I was late to the game in both of those things). But, I thought I couldn’t take significant time away, especially now as a business owner.
Then I saw another business owner do it. She took three months off IG, and everything was ok. Her business didn’t fall apart. It inspired me. If she could make it work, so could I. Maybe I could depend on God to grow my business, instead of playing slave to the demands of the IG algorithm for success.
I felt God telling me to take a long-term rest from IG, and finally I was ready to do it, to fast from something hard. I was ready to turn up the voice of God by turning down the voice of another thing in my life.
Below are ten things I’ve noticed from my experience:
Just at the start it was uncomfortable. The first morning away from IG, FOMO was real! “What if I miss out on something?!” But, I quickly reminded myself of God’s love. “Nyla, if God wants you to learn from a post, he can cross your path with the message from that post in another avenue, or you can see it once your break is done.” It was neat to see how I quickly became comfortable with my fear of missing out, and realized it wasn’t the end of the world to not know breaking news once it hit. It was ok to be living under an IG-free rock for awhile. The news I was supposed to encounter would find it’s way to me through one-on-one conversations, podcasts, the news or later upon my return to IG.
I didn’t miss IG. Not much, to tell you the truth. I try to take most weekends off IG, and by Sunday night, I’m ready to go back online and check things out. Surprisingly, a month-long break made me want to stay away longer! It’s like I was losing my taste for IG. What we feed on often we develop a taste for.
As a kid, I loved this one brand of chocolate milk. But, in university when I switched to a new brand that had buttermilk in it (Oh my gosh! So good!), I started to like that one more, since I had it more frequently. Now when I go back to the chocolate milk of my childhood, I don’t like it as much. In the same way, I’ve been feeding more regularly on the Word of God than IG this month and WOW! The Bible is more appealing to me than checking in with influencers on the Gram. It’s just not that exciting, not near as much as it once was, to see what they are posting or sharing. Moral of this long paragraph? Feast on what you want to one day crave.
I definitely compare my life way less. I compare myself less to others when I’m not in the loop of their lives through social media. I don’t think we are designed to know what each other are up to 24/7. Are you in a season of deep comparing? Step away from social media for a while and you’ll see that flare up of comparison start to lesson.
As an Enneagram 3 personality type, I can struggle with staying present. My mind is naturally off thinking about the future and things I need to get done. However, by decreasing my time on IG this month, it’s made it easier to be present with my pets, on a walk, or talking with my husband. I love it! That quote, “Be where your feet are planted right now,” definitely came to life this past month for me!
Time away from IG has allowed me to create authentically. I’m finding it easier to write like Nyla would write, to create books and blog posts like Nyla would, to run my business like Nyla would. When I’m not as heavily aware of how others are showing up in their business or day-to-day lives as wives or friends. It frees me up to just be what comes second nature to me: myself.
I struggled to not share my accomplishments publicly. As mentioned above, I’m a good ol’ Enneagram 3 — the number that tends to be hyper-focused on appearing successful in the eyes of others. I had to wrestle with not being able to share my accomplishments online. It was hard — probably the hardest parts of taking an IG hiatus. I so wanted to do an IG story about on-boarding new coaching clients, getting asked to be a body-image speaker at a local camp, or do a post on this or that exciting organization I’d been asked to partner with.
God really reminded me in that time that people knowing about my success in life doesn’t make or break my success. Nor does it give me more worth. Whether they know I landed a new client or whatever has NO impact on my human worth. A type three can sometimes tie their worth to how others perceive them, and so I had to silently applaud myself, be proud of myself, and thank God for the opportunities he was giving me.
To tell you the truth though, the three in me TOTALLY did bring up in one on one conversations some of my July feats, and after I’d walk away from those conversations shaking my head, “Nyla! It still counts even if people don’t know!” Oh dear! Something to keep working on, only seeking the approval and applause of God! Others’ approval of what I accomplish will not lead to happiness — only sourcing my approval, worth and love from God will lead to true joy!
God still grew my business, even without me spending much time on IG. I think I know a major reason, too. This month I finally tithed on all the earnings of my business since I started it in 2019. Scripture says in Malachi 3:8 that it’s stealing from God when we withhold the tithe, and I didn’t want to keep on doing that, especially when I learned in Matthew 23:23 Jesus tells us to still tithe as New Testament believers.
After watching a sermon on how to be a joyful tither instead of an obligatory one, I cheerfully auto-deposited money to a church as my business tithe. Guess what? God is already blessing that obedience to his word, even without me marketing my business much this July.
I learned that God doesn’t need my tithe. He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills, after all! See Psalm 50:10. All the silver and gold are his! See Haggai 2:8. But He DOES need my faith to work with, my trust. See Romans 4:16 and Hebrews 4:2. So I tithe not for his benefit, but for my own. Now I tithe as an act of obedience, thankfulness and with a heart of expectation for him to do what he says he will in return.
If the richest man in the world said, “Hey, give me 10% of your earnings and I’ll then in return give you access to all my bank accounts,” you’d think that was a pretty sweet deal! When I heard evangelist Jonathan Shuttlesworth use that analogy on tithing, it struck a chord with me and helped me to tithe with joy. As it says in Malachi 3, the hand of the devourer is being rebuked on my behalf on my business, and it’s making me excited to keep tithing!
I learned it’s ok to go on IG during an IG break. Yes. I went on it a few times. You don’t have to be legalistic about things. I realized a few days into my break I needed to message someone who I only had contact information on through messages in IG. So I went on, messaged them, then went off quickly. My good friend got married this month, too. I wanted to use her wedding hashtag and share in my stories some pictures from her special day. So I went on and shared mid-July, then got off. I also was a body-image guest speaker at a camp for teens. Wanting to advertise the camp on my platform, I shared about it in my IG stories. Again, I went on with a purpose then got off. It’s ok to take small breaks from your major break! You didn’t fail. Breaks need to be intentional and flexible, not rigid!
I learned life still had problems without IG in it! For some reason, I thought as soon as I ditched IG, I would be problem free! Ha! It was a bit of a shock to realize life still had hard parts outside of social media.
I realized I take a TON of food pictures! But, this month I have taken zero! As someone once said, it truly is a spa day for your brain when you take some time away from social media apps. But, it’s also a great way to free up photo space in your phone!
Friends, pray and see if the Lord is leading you to fast from social media. I’m feeling led to also take lots the next month off. A part of me wants to stay off forever, but I don’t feel God leading me to do so. Instead, I feel him leading me to use my platform in new ways for his glory, to help populate heaven. IG isn’t bad, but, as with all things in life, even good things can be misused and become harmful when used without boundaries.
Maybe you don’t need a long break but perhaps some boundaries to minimize daily usage. Invite the Holy Spirit in. Expect he will answer your invitation for help in this area. Search the scriptures with great expectation. God can help you with your social media usage through reading the Bible. He can speak to you through any verse, about any topic of your life. So cool!
If you’d like to hang out with me on IG, you can find me @nutritoinwithnyla. Or, you can listen to me as the podcast host of Her Holy Hustle Podcast, a podcast for Christians wanting to run their business and life at a peaceful pace with God leading.
If you are inspired by this post to step away from the Gram or social media altogether, I’d love to know via IG message! Or, if you have taken a break from social media, message me and share some of the things you learned from your break. I truly would love to hear!
Blessings on the rest of your summer, friends! See you when I get back on IG!