Putting Social Media on Pause

I keep sitting down to write this post, and then finding every excuse not to write this post. Mainly, I feel as if I am never in the right mindset to express what it is I want to say properly. The times I am in the right mindset generally include: when I am about to fall asleep, when I am knee deep in dirt in the garden, when I am showering and have no waterproof paper to write on.... Never the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday. The words never come to me then.

Yet here I am, on a Thursday afternoon, trying to get the words to flow. If they are a bit jumbled or incoherent or all-over-the-place, I apologize. I will try my best to keep this short, sweet, and to the point.

 I am taking a break from social media, namely Instagram.

I don't know how long I will be gone, but I plan on at least a full month, perhaps more. That means no logging in, deleting the app from my phone, and resisting the urge to sneak any peeks when I am on my desktop. (If you need to get in touch with me for anything, feel free to email me at brittani@untitledthoughts.com as I will still be checking and responding to emails!)

This post was meant to explain the reasoning behind my decision. I'm not sure if anyone is interested to hear, but I thought it best to be transparent about the reasons why I am taking a step back, especially in case anyone tries to reach me via the platform while I am away.

There are two main reasons I am putting a pause on my activity online:

1. I am in desperate need of hyper focused time spent on setting up my business for the long term, and
2. I find myself spending too much time online and I am beginning to fall into comparison overload.

If you want to stop reading there, I completely understand. Those two thing basically summarize my need to step away. However, if you'd like to know more behind those reasons or want to see what I plan to do while I am away (I've got LOADS of ideas, as always!), then keep on reading :)

Setting up the Business

For those who have known me for awhile, they know I am someone who gets really excited about a lot of things and wants to dive into all the projects all at once and I want them all done instantaneously!

This is super unrealistic, I know, but it's a trap I find myself falling into over and over again. I have a million ideas and I want to work on them all at once because they are all really exciting and could be super beneficial, but I easily get overwhelmed with splitting my focus too much and running myself thin. I'm not sure why I am this way when logically I know that it is better to tackle one thing at a time (and WAYY less stressful). I am just a person who has a tendency to take on more than I can handle at any given time.

So, with this time away, I am hoping to really become hyper focused on a few small goals. These goals are things that I believe are necessary to set up my business for long term success. Right now, I feel as if I am on a hamster wheel, just running around and around trying to check off all the items on my list, only to find the same items returning again and again in a new form.

I want to set things into place so that if I ever do grow my business (past just being me that is!), I can do so sustainable, without burning out, and at a comfortable pace. I want to add in structure that is currently lacking so that I can actually find room to breathe or for when things to *inevitably* go awry. I want to build in that extra space so that I have enough clarity to fix issues as they come instead of running around in a constant state of distress/ panic that not everything is getting done or not getting done well.

I also really want to create more room for collaborations again. It was a big part of Untitled Thoughts way back when, and I miss working with others. I want to be able to work on passion projects that are fun, feed the soul, and lift others up as well. I already have a few in the works that really light me up!

This was one of my all time favorite collaborations! It's from 2016 and we had such a large team! You can see everyone who was a part of this shoot here + here.

So, while I am away, I will be working on various bits of admin and developing some sort of flow for my day to day. Hopefully, this will give me the room to take a step back from time to time, breathe, and take on projects that I am really passionate about/ help give back to my community in some way/ inspire others and lift them up!

Comparison Overload

Obviously I haven't been taking this very sage advice for myself lately .

 Not gunna lie, I have been feeling a bit cruddy whenever I hop online. Not only have I found myself aimlessly clicking on the IG app throughout the day, but every time I sit down to scroll, I find myself falling down a negative spiral.

I begin comparing what I am doing to what everyone else is doing and asking myself questions like:

Why am I not getting as much stuff done?

Why do I feel so scattered all the time?

Am I even good at what I do?

I literally have an entire blog post on how I define success for myself, but all of that has slowly slipped away a I find myself a bit lost in comparing my journey to others journeys.

I feel quite silly admitting that I feel inadequate at times, especially when those feelings aren't the most important thing at this point in time. But the feelings are there, and I am trying my best to accept them and then move away from them in an effort to pick up feelings that are more positivist and proactive. I want to come back to a place of gratitude because I have so much more to be grateful for than I do to be comparing myself to.

This is why I believe a shift away from social media is the right move for me. It will not only give me the mental space to reorganize my business in a more productive way, it will also allow me a chance to recenter, find my voice, and follow my own path, without worrying about what others are doing walking along their respective paths.

I am excited for the projects that I will be working on and bringing those to you upon my return! I do plan to send out updates here and there via my newsletter, so if you want to stay in touch, feel free to sign up for that (You can find the sign-up on the homepage at the very bottom!).

Thank you for all of you who continue to cheer for me and support me as I learn to walk with my business. Your encouragement, kind words, and thoughtful emails keep me going when I find myself in a negative headspace. You all are the absolute best (seriously, though!) and the reason why I continue to strive to be better at what I do and the content I offer. I want to offer items of substance that makes each of you feel like your best selves through this common craft we all share, because we literally make things with our hands and that is SO FREAKING COOL!

à bientôt (Talk soon) !

 PS- I am also supposed to be planning a wedding or something in less than a year? So it might be wise for me to take a gander at those tasks, especially since I haven't touched my own dress in nearly 2 months, and Arlen's suit has been sitting for much, much longer - eeep!