The bottom line is, social media is a powerful entity, and also, a lot to deal with. Knowing exactly what our friends and acquaintances along with several random strangers are up to during all hours of the day, can be as draining as it can be fun. Yes, carefully curating your Insta feed with the highlight moments of your life is an enjoyable way to seek validation, but comparing the same by others, especially those we perceive to be richer, skinnier or happier, can chip away at our self-esteem, and make us unwilling participants of an inconclusive race.

Simply put, if lately, you find yourself feeling alarmingly over-whelmed every time you're scrolling through your feed, or a notification from your favourite social media app often causes unexpected pangs of anxiety, maybe it's your brain saying "it's time to take a break from social media". You don't need to delete all your profiles, but the benefits of taking a break from social media are being increasingly discussed by both the masses, and scientific experts.

So as tempting as posting on social media after a breakup can be, there are a number of more fulfilling things you can do with your time. And with that thought, here's a round-up of 10 stimulating things you can do, if you decide to take a break from social media.

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Image Courtesy - Pexels

1. Finish A Book

No, really. When was the last time you got so engrossed in a story, that you skipped through meals just to finish it in one sitting? It's been a couple of years, right? One of the reasons a periodic social media break is so important, is linked to how significantly it has impacted our attention spans. We are so used to going through an assortment of stimulating media within a mere few seconds, that we no longer have the patience to sit through a riveting novel. So yeah, if you are taking a break from social media, use it to feed your brain a few insightful words, instead of 5 mirror selfies per minute.

2. Call An Old Friend

If you want to use your social media break to reconnect with people in IRL, a conversation with an old friend from high school could help you retrace your roots. One way to make the most of the benefits of a social media break, is to use the time to strengthen your analogue relationships instead of the digital ones. So try to get in touch with all the people you've been putting off calling for so long during your social media break.

3. Channel Your Creativity

And by that, we mean in ways other than editing your social media post to perfection. Revive your natural creative inclination by taking a gander at an artsy activity you've always enjoyed. Whip out our paintbrush, pen down your thoughts, or create a scrapbook of memories for your best friend, there are several things you can do while taking a break from social media, for some much-needed creative release.

4. Create A 3-Month Plan

With incessant pings from social media no longer distracting you, use your precious social media break time to sort out some of your life. A social media break is a great time period, to reevaluate what progress you've made over the past few months and how far you currently are from achieving the things you want. Ponder over how much you've developed your skills thus far, set realistic and quantifiable goals for the next 3 months, and streamline the strategy for achieving your targets.

5. Cultivate A Meditation Habit

A new habit that will perfectly complement a mental health break from social media, is one of mindful meditation. Being mindful is all about being present in your current moment while fighting the urge to dwell on the past or plan the future, and isn't that one of the most highlighted benefits of taking a break from social media? There are plenty of functional and free apps you can download to cultivate a new meditation habit during your social media break, such as Headspace, Calm, Aura and Insight.

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10 Engrossing Things You Can Do During A Social Media Detox