[Transcript starts at 1:16]
Maestro: Hello, hello, hello my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. So today we are talking about taking a break from Instagram. Right off the bat, do you, boo. Do what you need to do for you. That just needs to be said. There's no buts. But what about. If you need a break, you wanna break.
Take that break. Moving forward with this thought, this break does not need to be a negative thing. And as, as I, as I was sitting here and outlining this episode, I realized that kind of, I went into it being like looking to discuss when a break is needed, and that doesn't have to be the case. And I, I put a poll out on Instagram, a question box on Instagram, and I said, for those of you that have taken a break from Instagram, how did you know you needed to take a break?
Or that you wanted to take a break? What were the circumstances? Tell me about this break. And, yes, many people put about, you know, comparisonitis and overwhelm and anxiety, but people also were like, I just wanted a break. And I, I just didn't wanna be there. I wanted to go and live life in person and it wasn't a, a bad thing, right?
I think that we can kind of view a break as in the same way that we view the jet setter that goes to the South of France for a long weekend. It's not necessarily that they were like, slaving away all week and then I need, or like all year, and they're like, I need this, this week of vacation. It could literally be like, Hey, there's just something fun, something else that I wanna be doing.
I wanna give my attention to this other thing. It doesn't have to be this thing that we need in order to keep up a grueling, unsustainable pace. Same, same you can think about it like a, like a de-load week if you're following good programming. If you're following shit programming, then that de-load week, you're just like, I just need to get there so I'm not dead.
That's usually not good programming. But if you're good programming, you know you're doing your thing, you're making gains, and you're like, you know what? Like I'm ready to just take a week and do something else, and then stoked to get back to this.
So I wanna put that out there, kind of set the tone for this episode, that taking a break doesn't need to be some horrendous thing. Um, and doesn't need to have this, like, this incredibly negative connotation.
So my favorite person to look at when it comes to taking a break from Instagram is my homie, UC. That's Dr. Uchenna Ossai. She's @youseelogic, which is Y O U S E E Logic, on Instagram. I brought her on the podcast. We'll link the things for you. Thank you, Courtney. Um, and chick will just disappear from Instagram. There's no warning, there's no anything. She just is gone. And then she's like, months later, I'm back with Bourbon Talez and I'm like, yes. I will text her if she's been gone for a while. Um, but. I love it. She doesn't, you know, there's no apologies, there's no like, she's feeling bad for doing what she needs to do to take care of herself or what she wants to be focusing on.
And I freaking love that. So, circling back to what I said initially, if you need or want a break, take it, right? This is me giving you the permission that you do not need. But sometimes we just need to hear things. We don't actually need the permission, but it's helpful. It can be helpful to hear the things.
So I'm gonna say the things. If you need a break, if you want a break, Take it. I, um, I also wanna say that some folks take kind of preemptive breaks, and I think that's also a great thing. Um, it's kinda like the person who goes away to work on their writing, right? I've never done that. Um, but it's the thing, I know it's a thing.
I, again, I just wanna highlight that it doesn't always have to be some super negative, you know, breakup. Um, two people that slid into the DMs when I asked about taking a break. One. My girl, Andrea, she's @seasonalandrea on Instagram. We'll link her. Um, I've spoken about her before and I'm definitely gonna bring her on the podcast.
But, um, she said that she takes a break, steps back from Instagram during her ltil phase, which helps keep her focused and not comparing d during that more judgmental time of the menstrual cycle. And I was like, that's great. That's actually really, really smart. Um, She said, it also said that when she does this and takes these, uh, luteal phase breaks, she doesn't feel like she needs to take a longer break during the middle of the year or during a different part of the year.
And I was like, that's great. She also followed this up and said, cause I told her, I was like, yo, this is awesome. I'm gonna share it in the podcast episode. And she said, awesome. And if people want some help with this, um, like identifying that, that phase, she said, it's like the days before, uh, your flow actually comes and you tend to be more judgmental during that time if you're otherwise not a judgmental person. Not there's anything wrong being a judgmental person, but she's like, Hey, if you find that you have different thoughts during that time, that's the luteal phase and maybe take a step back from Instagram. And I was like, that was awesome.
Uh, my girl, Molly G, we brought her on the podcast as well, or I, I shouldn't say as well. We brought her on the podcast. We can link that. Thank you, Courtney. Um, Molly Galbraith and Galbraith. And she said that she's done it when she was working on big projects and needed the creative energy to go towards that project. We know Molly does big fucking things, um, and she needed the creativity and that creative energy to work on other things and hit deadlines.
Um, she did say, and I loved this part that she added, that ta ta taking a step back was made easier by the fact that she had shown up for years before and did have that community already there. Um, and I think there's something to be said about that. Um, not that you cannot take a break if you haven't built that, but I, there's definitely more ease and a sense of comfort that comes with it when you already have this, this thing that you know isn't fragile.
Right? Not to say, I gotta put the disclaimer, not to say that if you, when you're just starting out, your business is fragile, but we know the difference, right? We know we talk about lifting. If you're making gains with lifting, if your training age is 20 years versus 20 days or 20 weeks, that person with 20 years of, of muscle mass and of a training age, they don't have to do the same things that that person that's just is just starting out in order to maintain those gains.
Right? So it's objective. So, that ties into the concern I think that people have when they, when they're thinking about taking a break, is that they're gonna fall behind. And I want to suggest that you concern yourself more with the reality that continuing in this way is completely unsustainable and you will certainly burn out.
So this is the identifying falling behind versus stopping altogether. As long as you're in the race, you can always quote, unquote, catch up. Ideally, the race is against yourself, but if we're gonna kind of stay with that language, and this, this concern about falling behind, this race never ends. So you can always catch up as long as you stay in the game.
And the only way you're gonna stay in the game is if you're actually enjoying it, which may mean taking a break so that you can then start again as opposed to being like, I pushed, I just did the most, and now I fucking hate this thing. I never want anything to do with it. I'm done. Okay. I think this comes with, this is a bit more of a mature business owner decision and realization and choice there. Where you're realizing that yes, taking a break and helping yourself with longevity kind of is a future reward versus falling behind is a present concern. But we are looking at the big picture here.
Additionally, something I wanna, I wanna toss out there is that yes, I, no one ever comes at me and is like, but you said to post every day. Even though I do say to post every day. But I know that that kind of is in people's mind that they're like, I'm gonna fall behind. Maestro talks about po- posting every day.
And to that, I wanna say, don't cherry pick your messages. Because yes, I say post every day. But I also say that shit's gonna take a long time and that you gotta do what's gonna set yourself up for sustainability and longevity and allow you to be in the game the longest. So listen to all the messages and if you're gonna cherry pick, pick the cherries that help you, not the ones that hurt you.
And this, I gotta stay in the game. I gotta, I gotta rather, I gotta do the most and I gotta post every day, even though I hate it, that's gonna hurt you. Whereas the cherry that's like, Hey, do what you gotta do to stay in the game the longest. Longevity reigns supreme. That's the one that's gonna help you. Pick that cherry.
Uh, so circling back to my message about, um, posting every day, right? The reason that I talk about this is not to give people anxiety. It is to help folks figure out what they want, learn what they want to be talking about, learn themselves, identify their messaging, get the reps, build a habit. That's all.
And so I suggest if you know that you want to use Instagram for online business, irrespective of what I am throwing out there, I need you to set achievable goals. I need you to go at a sustainable pace, and I need you to have expectations of effort, not outcome. Again, I recommend the daily posting so that you can build the habit, find your voice, get over your shit, learn what you like saying what you don't like saying, and do so quote unquote, the fastest amount of time.
But my, my main concern is not speed. It's longevity, right? It's only fast if it's sustainable. If it's not sustainable and you stop, that's way slower than just continuously going at whatever pace is sustainable for you. So I put these things out always as soft suggestions. It's never a should. I also wanna say that when it comes to Instagram, I know for a fact Instagram doesn't affect me and other people I know that are able to, you know, kind of create the same, at the same volume and capacity that I am, it doesn't affect us in the same kind of negative way.
Right. I enjoy sharing on there. Um, it's something that comes easily. Um, there's not like this like, I, I don't, I don't think it affects my brain the same way that it affects other people's brains. And I think that's a, that's all things in general. The things that we like and don't like, I would say that it affects our chemistry, it affects our biology, our physiology, our brain differently than it does somebody else.
Um, I'm gonna liken this CrossFit. I physically could not sustain what others could do, right? I loved the community. I loved the way that I looked. I loved, you know, being there, but I was also getting injured. I was constantly trying to eat more so I could gain weight, and I was like, this is like actually very draining on me and physically not good for me.
Now, I do all, I should say, I'm, I'm back to doing all body building style work. So that's where, that's where I started, and now I'm back to it and this fits and it's sustainable and I can do this forever. And the, I have deload weeks where they're not like, thank God I'm just taking time off cause I'm like fucking broken and it's a forced deload. It's like, you know what, I'm gonna just lean on doing some more volleyball this week and then I'm gonna come back to, uh, lifting next week and I'm gonna write my programming during this time and it's all good.
Alright, so I want you to think about that when it comes to social media and how it's affecting you and understand that like I really put the blinders on, um, and I wanted to share like my own experiences because people are like, well, how come you can do it? Cuz I can, and other people can and some people can't. And in the same same for, for CrossFit. Like, I couldn't do that. It's okay.
So when I reached out on, on the Instagrams and I asked people why they took a break and just to explain the circumstances around it, I wanna share some of the things that were ,there, right?
Not to provide solutions or combat them or, or tear them apart or, or tease them apart, or break them down, or anything like that. I just want you to know that you're not alone, right? So, uh, plate was full and something had to give. Life got busy and it was less of a priority. I strategically started with these two and listing them out because again, taking a break from Instagram doesn't have to be some, like I was dead.
It was the worst thing ever. It can be that, but it could also just be like, Hey, I had other things I wanted to do. Uh, to cut out all the noise and distraction. Because it feels addictive. Um, brain couldn't handle so much fast dopamine. Always consuming and comparing. That was the big one. Feeling like I should post versus being excited about, excited about it.
And I will say with that, sometimes you're not gonna be excited about it. Um, I know who this person in particular and like they're in a good way. Um, and they understand like sometimes it's just like, you're posting, you're checking a box. Um, but if it feels like that all like for a prolonged amount of time, then it is like, Hey, take a step back and be like, what, what's going on here?
Uh, mindlessly scrolling without creating. Feeling like they're on it too much. Felt overwhelming and made them anxious. It was a time suck. It was addicting. Mindless scrolling. Opening the app eleventy billion times a day for no reason. Um, and then lastly, wanted to be more present without always thinking about sharing, processing big life changes internally rather than externally.
All are completely valid reasons for taking a break. And I'm not here again to provide solutions. I just wanted to share them so that you don't feel so, that you feel perhaps less alone. Uh, and to, to offer up things that I can't offer up because I don't get the overwhelm with, with Instagram. I don't get the feeling like it's a time suck.
If, if I'm done, I'm done. If I wanna be on it, I'm on it. I love being on it. I love, I love, I do love it. But I wanna present all sides here and again, it's okay if you need or want to take a break. I, I want you to know as well, Instagram is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing. So if you're like, it feels addicting, it feels like I can't stop.
Yes. TikTok is a perfect example of that. They made it so simple. All you gotta do is flick your, your thumb, right? Instagram wants your attention. It changes the colors, right? They make things brighter, so you're like, oh, wow. It's like going into a casino. Those bright lights. It wants you to stay on. The, the currency it's dealing with is your attention.
So I don't want you to feel like, oh, something's wrong with me cause I, I just can't stop scrolling. Nothing's wrong with you. Instagram is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.
I will also say, for what it's worth, Instagram d I don't feel addicted to it, but does annoy me. Right. Especially right now, everything feels the same.
Everything looks the same. It's very boring. I think that Instagram tends to, and the algorithm tends to stifle creativity and it's kind of like, create in this way and talk about these things and show this skin if you want a reward of dopamine and, you know, likes and, and everyone's encouraged to be the same.
And that's a little bit frustrating and disheartening and so, I tend to either take a step back or um, just create in the way that I wanna create and it is what it is. Um, I also do struggle with being bombarded with bad news. And sometimes I have to mute accounts and I'm like, this is just negative, negative, negative, negative. I need to go look at some cake decorating. I need to look at some like pictures of California, cuz I can't just have that coming in.
So, I do wanna give you some action items if you are thinking about taking a break. Mainly because if we are gonna look at this from the negative side, I don't want this to become cyclical for you, right?
If it's the positive side of, you know, we're jet setting to south of France. Cool. Take that break. You already know. You're probably not even listening to this episode. But if this, this break is coming from like, fuck, I am so burned out, I'm over it. I'm not well. I do wanna just kind of dive into that cause I do not want it to become a cyclical thing where it's like, oh, take a break and go back. Same thing happens. Take a break, go back. Same thing happens. Right?
So the action items that I'm gonna suggest here is, number one, go take that fucking break. Number two, audit things. Number three, find your joy. And then number four, come back if and when you are ready.
So when, as it relates to taking the break, the, the question I always get is like, well, should I make an announcement? If you want. You know, I have a friend right now who, who's stepping back and she did make an announcement. I love the, I love the caption she wrote, and she was like, I felt like I, I really wanted to, because I know people on here care, and I, it felt bad, felt weird for me to just not say anything.
And I respect the shit outta that. By all means. If you're like, nah, I don't want to say anything, it's your choice as well, right? I want you to understand that this is all about choice. How you use Instagram or don't use it, is this up to you. It's your choice. The second part, second step, auditing things.
Two parts to this. What's your goal with being on social media? What's your goal with being on Instagram, and what are you getting out of Instagram? So when we say, what's your goal, I want you think about like, Hey, if I am gonna come back to this, why? What am I trying to get out of it? Define that usage goal and think what would actually be helpful in terms of you achieving it, right?
I need you to throw should in the trash. Remember, you get to make the rules. Not I should post every, I should. What's sustainable for you? What's good for you? What will help you move in the direction, and it doesn't need to be the fastest in the direction, what will help you move in the direction that you're trying to go?
So if you're trying to use this for business, then the goal would be to attract customers. And the action item there is to create helpful, valuable content. You could totally just post and leave. That's what I do on TikTok. I just make videos and I just post it. I don't, I don't hang out over there. I don't, I don't really enjoy TikTok.
Um, I don't even post my own shit on YouTube. Joe does it for me. Uh, yes, I built my whole brand on Instagram around being on Instagram, but if you're purely like, I want to get my message out there, you can just post and leave and then you could batch your interaction and engagement time and come back at a different time and be like, any messages that I get, I'm gonna answer at this specific time.
Right? You don't have to just be in it all the time. Big thing there as well is to curate your experience. I said before, sometimes I gotta mute accounts. I'm like, it's so negative. Follow shit that makes you smile. I'm following cat accounts. I'm following lots of volleyball accounts. I'm following California accounts.
There's a Jeep accounts that I follow in there. A bunch of meme accounts. Curate your experience. If you're like, Hey, but I know I'm gonna be on here. Cool. Make it so that it is fun. But think about what is the goal that you have in using this, and then what action items are actually gonna move you in that direction.
Second part here is what are you actually getting out of using on I, what are you actually getting out of using Instagram? I did a post about this, I did two posts about this, um, in the past that you can't just say, I'm just gonna stop Instagram and then beat yourself up cause it's difficult to stop. There, there's a reason that you're using it and that you're feeling this, this addiction. Aside from the, the colors and things like that, that Instagram does, um, the things that are addicting, there's, you're getting something out of it.
Right? And if it's a dopamine hit, then we have to say, okay. Why am I searching for the dopamine hit there? Right? So if we're thinking about reasons we're using it, dopamine, escapism, connection, belonging, happiness. If you're really like, I wanna stop scrolling, then you have to identify what you're getting out of Instagram and then replace that thing.
That's why something like reading some dense ass book is not gonna just replace it. Cause if you're like, I'm getting belonging or connection from this. You're not gonna get that from some going and reading the, you know, some, some fucking Moby Dick or something like that, right? It doesn't, we see, have to think about what am I getting out of this?
And oftentimes when you're like, oh, I'm doing it for mindless, then it's escapism and there's nothing wrong with that. So then you gotta replace it with something else that you feel better about. Or I kind of hesitate to say this, but create a life that you need less escaping from. Right? And I say that in the kindest way possible.
Third part is finding your joy. So you've created time, right? You're not on Instagram, and a lot of us use it a lot. And so suddenly you're like, okay, I have all of this free time. Amazing. So now go find the things that you wanna do when you're off of the gram. I will say that for me, there's a both and here of, you know, someone said earlier that they wanted to like live and experience those things in person and, and experience them without having to share.
I enjoy sharing it. I enjoy sharing my joy and I can still be present in the moment. That's part, it's, it's, it's all one thing for me. If it's not or if for you, or if you don't want it to be for you, that's totally fine. I just wanna make sure that you are finding those things, leaning into those things, whether it's hiking or volleyball or going out to eat or hanging out with your cat. I don't know. Whatever it is, I want you to go and take that time that you've given yourself and fill it with things that make you happy.
And then lastly, when you decide, or if you decide if and when you decide to come back, do you boo. You can just start posting or you can formally announce that you're back. You get to choose.
We see if we zoom out here, what I am getting at is that when it comes to Instagram, you make the rules. You decide how you use Instagram. Yes, I coach people, quote unquote, on how to use it for online business, but it's always just soft suggestions. At the end of the day, you have to do what is best for you, and then you take radical responsibility for that decision.
That's it. If you need a break, if you want a break, you going to the south of France, take it. You are the boss, right? Instagram, y'all know I love it and I, I truly do believe that it can be a phenomenal thing, but it's not everything. So if you're listening to this, if you're thinking about taking a break, take the break.
If you're wanting to take a break, take the break. If you need permission to take the break, here is your permission. And if you don't need a break, well then I will see you on Instagram. All right. That's all I got for you. I'm looking at the outline here. That's it. Maybe today I'll do a little call to action.
If you liked it, if you loved it, if you were picking up what I'm putting down, do me a solid and leave some reviews. Does it help people find the show? I honestly don't know. I don't know, but I know that I do like it. I love hearing from you. I do love the engagement there. Uh, cuz you know, it's a bit of a one-sided thing here.
I'm just looking into a camera and talking. Um, so if you enjoyed it, You, you're, you're feeling it, leave me some stars, preferably five. That would be nice. Uh, leave me a comment, a little review, comment. I do read them. I really enjoy them. So, and if you've already done that, thank you. All right. I officially gonna wrap it up here.
As always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends, Maestro out.
Watch this episode on YouTube!
Follow Uchenna: @youseelogic
MOTM #224: Be One Of The Few In The Crowd with Dr. Uchenna Ossai
Follow Andrea: @seasonalandrea
MOTM #273: Strong Women Lift Each Other Up with Molly Galbraith
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