My Intentional Social Media Plan

Lately, it seems like so many bloggers/creators are stepping away from Instagram and social media. It makes me sad to see so many favorites leave–but I get it! During the pandemic I have spent more days taking a break than I’ve been actively posting…by a like, a lot. Each and every break that I took, I considered stepping away from blogging and social media all together. Yet, I keep coming back. Because at the end of the day I really do enjoy my “little corner of the internet”. I’ve met so many incredible women and have been so grateful for the inspiration and connection the internet has been able to provide, especially during this isolating year.

But I can’t keep ignoring the fact that there must be a reason why I am wanting to take so many days off/quit altogether. When I sat down to reflect on it, there were a lot of reasons, but the main two were these:

1. There is a constant need to create and stay active and relevant on the platform. When I post inconsistently- the algorithm no longer works in my favor and “hides” my posts from the majority of my followers. While it isn’t about the number of “likes” I DO want people to be able to see my posts, because when no one sees them it feels like a huge waste of time and energy. This creates a constant cycle of creating and posting which is honestly unattainable for me, without reaching burnout. The never ending need for a pretty picture, profound thought or original idea is exhausting.
2. I also frequently wonder if I will regret all of this time spent on social media. I feel silly for sometimes treating this like a job when the truth is I’m making VERY little money here. Time spent on social media is time away from something else- my family my hobbies, caring for my home, etc. Time that I’ll never get back.

BUT, despite these caveats, I really do enjoy this space and always want to come back to it for a few reasons: I love the creative outlet– I feel happiest when I’m creating (especially writing) and I’m so grateful for having this space to do so. I also don’t want to forgo my passions, just because of motherhood. Motherhood is a huge part of me, but it’s not all of me. I would love for my boys to see me pursing my passions and interests. And like I mentioned, I love the fantastic women that I’ve met, who I am constantly inspired by.

My intentional social media plan:

I told myself that if I came back this time, it would be for good. SO, what I’m going to do is come up with some concrete limits/restrictions/rules for my time on social media. Writing things down and coming up with specifics is always helpful for me because it’s much clearer than vaguely saying my goal is “to be on social media less.” That vague goal leads to uncertainty about what that means and then I just dissapear all together.

Here is what I came up with–what I want my social media time to look like:

A few notable things that I will be trying:

1. My time spent worrying about social media is going to be limited to two hours, so when I DO use it, I want to use it with intention. If I don’t have time to comment, like or share other people’s posts then I will not be getting on it at all. I will also be reducing the number of people I follow by 600+ so that I can find posts from people that I care about and who inspire me!
2. I’m going to try and dedicate a certain time period each day for responding to comments and DMs. I know some bloggers don’t care about responding, but I really really do. In fact, getting “behind” on DMs is one reason I put off posting. I feel guilty posting when I know I have so many unread messages! I hoping that having a consistent routine will help with this.
3. Although I won’t be counting computer time for my “screen time hours” I am going to kick it old school and try hand writing the drafts of my blog posts, just to reduce it as much as possible! I tend to get distracted every time I open my computer to work on my blog (checking email, online shopping, Youtube, etc) so I think this will be a big help!

How I plan to keep myself accountable:

I created a simple chart to keep track of the statistics that iPhone’s weekly “screen time” report so kindly shares with me. I honestly avoided looking at the report for months (ignorance is bliss, right?)- but when I finally clicked on that notification one Sunday I wanted to cry. For transparency sake- my daily average was over 6 hours and I had over 100 pick ups per day! What?!! What really made me feel sick was that I was spending over 24 hours a week on my PHONE. Sure I could justify a lot of that screen time was while nursing a baby, listing clothes on Poshmark, Facetiming with long distance family, etc- but the reality is that that is still ONE WHOLE DAY each week wasted…52 days a year potentially!

I created some realistic goals and each week I hope to lower my numbers until I am at, or below those numbers.

I’ll also be keeping track of the number of posts I do both here and on Instagram. Because it’s not about canceling social media all together, it’s about using it more intentionally. I WOULD like to see this blog become more “successful” and in order for that to happen I need to be a lot more consistent.

What you can expect going forward:

First of all, if you’re reading this, thank you for even caring about what I’m doing moving forward. I don’t take it lightly that I have people that actually care about what I say and are here to support me. I appreciate you so very much!

My site registration renews in September and so now that I’m recommiting to this space, I also need to decide the direction I want my blog to go.

I often struggle with what to post because I struggle with imposter syndrome- I’m not an “expert” in anything and I am so far from having it all together that it isn’t even funny. My house is messy more often than not and it’s a rare chance that you will find every room clean on the same day. I’m 30 pounds heavier than I used to be. Despite my efforts, we still have way too much stuff. I have days where I do NOTHING off my to do list. I have way more ideas than I have time. I don’t have the trendiest clothes. I don’t know how to do my make up. I live in a very average home and drive a car that is 10 years old. I guess I often just don’t know where I fit in the “blogger” world and often find myself wondering why anyone follows me!

But dwelling on my weaknesses will get me nowhere. Literally. That imposter syndrome turns into anxiety which prevents me from posting a dang thing. And despite the nagging feeling that I’m not good enough to be in this space, I know deep down, that I DO have some unique things to offer.

So, going forward, I just have to be okay showing up how I actually am. Sharing both my weaknesses and my strengths; making my mess my message.

Honestly, not much will be changing content-wise, expect to continue seeing realistic organization ideas, functional planning and all the sticky notes and lists of course 😉 I’m just hoping to be more consistent with the help of this new intentional social media plan! I’m going to give myself until September to implement these ideas and if I’m still feeling the need to constantly take time off, then maybe I will for good. Only time will tell. But until then, I will give it my all!

Thanks so much for reading this mess of a post! I’m not really sure what I felt compelled to share all of this. I know at the end of the day it’s not a serious problem and I’m awfully privileged to be worrying about this in the first place! I do hope that if you are feeling similarly, that this post might encourage you to write down some of your own specific boundaries and “rules” around social media, so that you too, can find balance! 🙂