Stop Apologising for time offline

Nothing bad happens if you don't post.

As I wrote about in my last offering to you, We Are Not Machines, I am, as many of us are, in a busy summer season. I’ve taken on a couple of big, exciting projects which means that I’ve had less time for my own social media. Plus the sun is shining here in the northern hemisphere and holiday season is almost upon us – so how do you feel about taking time offline this summer?

Do you feel the need to apologise if you take time away from the gram? I’ve managed to squash some of that ‘good girl’ mindset and I’m getting better with my boundaries.

What I’ve witnessed frequently in the digital space, is people feeling the need to announce when they’re taking time away from socials, whether it’s for a digital detox or simply because they’re going to be spending time in other ways. Or, on the other side of a break, apologising for having posted less frequently than usual. Why do we do this?

Why do we apologise for going offline?

In the long-gone analogue days before we were all constantly connected via all the messaging apps and various platforms, we could easily go days without checking in with friends, family, customers, clients, et al., and no one felt the need to make excuses or apologise.

Having space in this way was a part of life.  (Ahhh, simpler times …)

Of course, the ability to easily connect with our soul family and share our insights and aha moments, as well as selling our wares all around the world 24/7 are some of the benefits of these days of digital. But we should never feel we need to apologise for spending time offline and not just off-grid, but off ‘the’ grid.

And here’s a small but harsh truth: When you go for a few days, or even weeks, without posting, chances are … no one really notices. Unless it’s one of your besties, or full-time fan-girls, but no one is going to be offended or upset if you take time off your posting schedule. And quite frankly it’s not really anyone's business – is it?!

You don’t owe anyone an apology for not posting in the digital Town Square.

Unless you’re on par with Taylor Swift, chances are no one is going to question if you go quiet on social media for a while. (Seriously, where has she gone?)

This all comes back to the idea of social media working for us, not us working for ‘it.’

Social media is either part of your marketing and PR efforts, or it is a fun way to keep in touch with your friends, family, and wider communities – or it’s a bit of both.  It is not THE gig, and should not be controlling your life or making you feel beholden to it.

Unless you’re an influencer, social media is not your job.

So, you don’t have to call in sick or ask permission to take leave.

Of course, there are times when you do need to keep some marketing and PR rolling, and have an active presence online. Times when you still need to stay consistent with your schedule, even though you might feel like or need to step away from it actively for a bit. Luckily, there are lots of tools you can utilise for your Strategy of Love to support you with this.

If you know that you’ll be taking time away,  and want to keep your online presence active while you take some time off, here are a few simple ideas:

Recycle – Do you have old posts that are still relevant? Can they be tweaked and reposted? Rather than scrambling to create new content before you take time off, dig deep into your archives and see what you can recycle from your  content.

Repurpose – Are there tidbits you can extract from your other types of content? Have a look through blog posts, articles, podcasts, any type of content you’ve already produced, and see if it can be repurposed for your social media timelines.

Ready – Once you’ve decided on your content, load it into a scheduler like Planoly, HootSuite, Later or the new and free Meta Business Suite which lets you schedule to FB and Insta, ready to be posted automatically on the day and time of your choice…. At 11:11am or 3.33pm , if I’m running things, to call in those blessings!

Release – Possibly the most important one – bless your posts and release them into the wilds of the world wide web, trusting they’ll reach the right people. And release yourself and allow yourself this time and space away from social media.

And finally …

Remember – You never need to apologise for taking time away from social media.

Don’t worry about the algorithms either – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The algorithm is personal, subjective and unique - you can create your own algorithm. (Take that, Big Tech!) And actually, the algorithm can work in your favour,  much like life, when you take time out!

I’d love to hear from you if you found this share helpful.

How do you feel when you take time away from social media?

Do you feel the need to apologise or explain yourself?

Or are you happy to log off and walk away?

Please share in the comments below.