Recently, I was sitting talking to one of my team, Sindy, complaining that I felt overwhelmed and “fuzzy headed”. I was suffering from a general lack of enthusiasm and feeling incredibly uninspired – which is very unlike me!
Many people would say I’d hit burnout. In the last six months I’ve ticked off some of the major stresses in life that apparently can give you a heart attack, and so much more!
My marriage ended, I moved house, I made a TV show, I started a new relationship, we had Christmas, I kept filming the show into the new year, my daughter started high school, I took on new business partners, I started divorce proceedings and my new relationship ended. Phew!
I’ve always handled stress really well, so I knew burnout was highly unlikely – so I meditated for quite a while (in fact I fell asleep for a few hours whilst mediating!) and realised, I was suffering from digital overload.
Due to my work projects and creating content, I need a high level of access to social media. But I’ve found lately that I mindlessly scroll when I’m bored or simply have nothing to do. It’s a great time waster, as many of us know, but it was literally cluttering my mind! I felt overwhelmed and anxious knowing way too much about people, their lives and relying on people’s comments about my own life almost as a justification.
Also the use of technology was the major contributor to my divorce.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen the seedy side of social and the damage it can do to relationships and families, as well as self-esteem and self-worth. And I think that highlighted my love/hate relationship with the online world ever since. Subliminally, I found it super stressful and it brought up old trust issues whenever I saw people close to me on their phones.
I was beginning to feel like technology owned me. So, I made the decision to switch off.
For the rest of March, I’m participating in a Meditation and Mindfulness program to ensure I’m not glued to my iphone 24/7. In fact, I won’t be on Instagram at all for this month. I’ll also be on a very limited Facebook allowance of just three times per week, no Snapchat, no Pinterest, no Twitter and no other platform usage.
Instead, I’ll be writing my ideas down old-school – in a journal. My appetite for pretty pictures and updates will be fed through books and actual phone calls to people (oh the shock!!) and there will be no recreational laptop time after 3pm at home when my kids arrive from school.
In place of scrolling and posting, I’ve been spending that time meditating at least once a day (ideally twice), having a daily mantra and abundance practice and hitting the pavement to exercise.
I’ve also been filling my airtime with inspiring podcasts and interviews which really start my day beautifully.
But with any addiction, it’s a work in progress to beat old habits. I’m now on day three and just like a smoker, I’m craving my addiction.
To help, I’ve filled up my day with work tasks, and tying up loose ends that I’ve been avoiding and putting off. For some odd reason, it seems the best time is now to get my life in order, especially when I’m working so hard on getting my mind decluttered and ready for inspiration again.
I’d love to know if you’ve done a digital detox and how your experience was for you? xx
the social media department 