Social media services, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, WeChat, YouTube, TikTok, Tinder, etc., have dramatically transformed our average daily activities online, and one should take a break now and then.
This article discusses why it’s essential to take a periodic pause from Facebook, what you stand to gain in doing so, and the activities you could spend your time on while in the break.
So let’s get right into it.
When is the Best Time to Take a Break from Facebook?
- When it’s no longer fun to log into Facebook, you’re faced with criticisms, attacks, trolling actions of specific individuals, or any other harmful activities that drain your energy every time you log in. Maybe you should take a break already.
- When you find yourself constantly in Competition with other Facebookers for fashion, trends, or clout, you’re in the wrong circle and need to get some air out of Facebook.
- When being on Facebook takes a significant part of your Thinking all-day. This robs you of the opportunity to do something productive about your other projects, assignments, and career prospects.
- Suppose you find Yourself Doom scrolling. This involves just browsing through Facebook feeds, videos, posts, and the likes, shares, and comments of others endlessly until you realize you’ve been at it for hours already.
- When it’s the First thing you do in the morning, the last at night, and Almost every Waking time in-between, at this stage, it’s safe to say you’re officially addicted and need a quick break to regain your sense of self-motivation and individual personality.
Ways to Take a Break from Facebook
1. Temporarily Break Communication with a Particular Individual on Facebook
If there’s someone who keeps pressuring you to demonstrate some of the traits mentioned above, you could desist from interacting with them to regain yourself.
To do this, you can Block or unfriend such persons.
How to Block a Friend on Facebook
- Login to your Facebook account and select the Menu icon at the top-right corner
- Head to Settings and tap on Audience and Visibility
- Now go to Blocking and type in the person’s Username.
- Select the right person from the search results to confirm the Block.
How to Unfriend Someone On Facebook
- Tap the search icon and enter the person’s Username to find the contact,
- Next, select the account you wish to unfriend and tap the Profile icon under the cover photo.
- Select ‘Unfriend’ to unfriend the contact.
If that seems too drastic, you can also unfollow them if you don’t want them to know you wish to ignore them.
How to Unfollow Someone on Facebook
- Tap the search icon and locate the account you wish to unfollow
Tap on Following, then select it again to unfollow the person.
Other ways to ignore someone on Facebook include
2. Placing them in your Acquaintances List
The Acquaintances List is where you place anyone trolling or troubling you on Facebook. After setup, you can place certain restrictions on your acquaintance list and limit how they view your profile or react to your posts.
To add someone to the Acquaintances list,
- First, search for their account using the search icon
- Once the name appears on your search results, tap on it to open the profile
- Tap on the Friends icon, then go to Edit Friends List.
- Select Acquaintances and add whoever you wish to include.
- Tap on Done once you’re through to save your settings.
Whenever you’re sharing a post, you can now choose Post to Friends Except Acquaintances to restrict anyone on that list from seeing your updates.
3. Place them in the Restricted List.
A final deterrent for violators of your personal space on Facebook is adding them to your restricted list.
The restricted list ensures those in that category can only see your public profile and nothing more.
- Search for the person, and tap on their profile icon (under the profile pic)
- Select Friends and go to Edit Friends List
- Now choose Restricted and save the settings.
4. Turn Off Facebook Notifications on your Mobile Device
Turning off Facebook notifications on your Smartphone can help reduce the time spent on the app.
This works better for people with a regular paying job or a minimal daily engagement level that lets them temporarily forget about Facebook.
Head to the Menu icon on your Smartphone and select Settings.
Now tap on notifications and set your preferences.
Although it might only work temporarily, it is an effective way of helping you reorganize your day.
5. Develop Hobbies that Interest You
Certain hobbies and skill learning processes help to keep us distracted away from Facebook for some time.
So if you’re thinking of taking a break from Facebook, below is a list of possible hobbies and activities that will make your daily life feel more fulfilling.
1. Participate in Game Nights/Movie Nights
Game nights and movie nights are a great way to bond with friends and family, and it has a way of improving your sense of social value.
2. Start a Gym Session
You don’t need to be overweight before deciding to begin a training session at the gym; science has continued to prove that regular exercises help boost the body’s resistance to stress and pressure.
3. Spend more time Building Lasting Friendships and Relationships
This could range from a casual dinner to a barbeque night. Building Lasting Friendships enhances your sense of self-worth in the long run.
4. Go for a Road Walk
Why not drop the phone and hit the road for a 30 minutes walk?
You’ll undoubtedly feel more alive by the time you get back.
Other closely related activities to engage in while on Facebook vacation include,
Ride a bike
Go Hiking/Skiing
Learn to Swim
Take a Flying/SkyDiving/Scuba Diving Course
Learn to Prepare your Experimental Meals
6. Take a 15-Minute Journal Daily
Taking a journal of your daily activities helps make you more reflective of life and gradually become more self-aware of yourself and the environment. You gradually become more detailed and intentional with yourself.
7. Placing Your Phone away from your reach every Night before Sleeping
This helps to resist the temptation of scrolling through Facebook late into the night.
Placing the Smartphone out of your arm’s reach at night allows the mind to be distracted enough for sleep to set in.
8. Deactivating your Facebook Account Temporarily
If you wish to be away from Facebook totally, deactivating the account temporarily is the way to go for a short time. This option is safest to ward off hackers and online trolls.
You can deactivate your account following these simple steps:
- Login to your account and head to settings by tapping the Menu icon.
- Go to Account Ownership and Control, then tap Deactivation and DeletionChoose the option to deactivate your account and follow the onscreen instructions.
Once your account is temporarily deactivated, it becomes invisible to others, and you can reactivate it following the same process.
Can I Continue Instant Messaging on Facebook Messenger with my Account Deactivated?
Yes, you can. Log in to the messenger app before deactivating your Facebook account to continue using Messenger. This keeps Messenger active, even after deactivating the Facebook account.
Benefits of Taking a Break from Facebook
- Regain your self-identity and unique personality
- Keep your privacy private and away from sneaky persons
- You begin to enjoy every moment of life
- You stop bogging down yourself with unnecessary comparisons
- Your moods improve, and so do your general mental and emotional health
- You’re healed of the Phone addiction disorder and can now focus on other productive adventures.
We cannot refute the many benefits and advantages Facebook and other Social Media Services bring to our lives. Some of these include
- Helping to build one’s brand and business idea
- Access to the broadest range of target markets for your products and services
- Ability to make new friends rapidly and grow one’s social circle
- Anyone can make a decent living on Facebook by running targeted ads on their websites or building a business page/group/account for sales purposes.
- One can also take advantage of the vast Facebook community to promote a cause or personal interests opinions about Plants, Animals, a race, a culture, gender, or the ecosystem.
While all these seem impressive, some negative consequences of being on Facebook could include,
- You may attract trolls, pervs, and scammers who are increasingly launching their attacks on innocent Social Media Users
- If your Facebook account is not adequately secured, your private data might fall into the wrong hands.
- Overindulgence in Facebook chats, videos, pictures, and messages might lead to mental and emotional strain on you.
- Spending endless hours staring at your phone might accumulate strain on your eyes and mind, coupled with other severe medical conditions.
- You may find yourself lured into unnecessary Competition that drains you of your energy, time, and resources.
All of these point out that whenever being on Facebook begins to feel more like a chore than fun, taking a good break could be the trick to rejuvenating your enthusiasm back to life.