#Take a break facebook 2021 how to#

As a therapist on Instagram, I loved finding inspiration from other therapists who were on Instagram and taking mental notes about different posts, videos, or reels' ideas I could come up with. Their office tours, cute pet shots, and new discoveries helped me feel connected to them while so many of us are apart. I love seeing those little behind-the-scenes moments of my real-life and internet friends. I missed people! Why I love Instagram is the same reason it was hard to be away. Shout out to Monica of Hold Space Creative, whose Andrea template I used for my website, and Kristie of TherapieSEO who helped me level up my SEO game! Seeing these numbers enabled me to see that Instagram is helpful, but it isn't the end-all-be-all to online marketing as a therapist.

I learned that while many people check Instagram as a way to 'vet' me, most people still find me via my hardworking website and SEO-optimized blog and podcast. After a month away, there was no decrease in my monthly income, my email list grew, and I continued to get aligned clients in my therapy private practice. While many people have claimed to find me and my work via Instagram, I look at the numbers. My income wasn't as reliant on Instagram as I thought. I may keep up deleting the app over the weekends moving forward. I didn't realize just how much Instagram had my antennae 'on' to be thinking about work when I'd hop on and scroll on a Saturday and Sunday. What I loved about being away from Instagram was that my weekends felt like weekends. Because of that, work/life separation on the app was incredibly blurry. My account is a work account I also use it to stay connected to family and friends. If you, like me, use social media for both work and personal reasons, it can be hard to differentiate when you are 'working' on social media and when you're enjoying it for fun. What did I learn from a month off Instagram? It ended up being about a month, or 31 days in total that I was off the app. My best guess was that my Instagram pause would be in the 3-6 week range. I didn't plan for a month off I told myself I'd know when I was ready to come back when it felt right. Finally, to prevent me from cheating, I also blocked Instagram on Chrome using a browser extension. I updated the links in my Instagram bio to reflect different ways they could stay connected with me, from joining my email list to subscribing to my podcast. I let them know on Friday and Monday that my account was going to take a pause. To prepare for my time away from Instagram, I alerted my 8k followers that I'd be taking a break. I hate the term 'Instagram detox' (or any detox, for that matter), but I guess it was a close to an Instagram detox as I got. I took one month off of Instagram (minus a brief 2 hours).

#Take a break facebook 2021 how to#

How To Prepare Your Business for a Month off Instagram That's when I knew I needed to hit pause. Around April 2021, I started resenting Instagram instead of finding it fun. So much so that I put an app blocker on it that would kick me off once I hit a daily time limit. Instagram, however, was my Achilles heel.

That said, I've enjoyed using Instagram for business! I was never a Facebook fan, and blocked and deleted the app for good in February 2021 and haven't looked back. If they message me over a social media app, I redirect them to contact me via email or through the Simple Practice portal. For example, they are welcome to follow me, but I don't reciprocate. I'm comfortable as a therapist on social media and have clear boundaries with clients about what I will and won't do on social media. I technically have a Twitter as well, but I don't use it as much. My Instagram was quite active with over 8k organic followers, and in addition to having a podcast, I have a presence on YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Before hitting pause on Instagram, I was a relatively active therapist on Instagram.