Most of us are addicted to social media. Many of us find ourselves glued to the phone, refreshing minute after minute, even when nothing new pops up. While there are many benefits to social media, like quick access to information, there are also many negatives. Social media can cause stress and anxiety and damage self-esteem. Sometimes the best thing you can do is take a break from social media. Why?

You can focus on yourself.

When you constantly spend your time on social media, you’re investing more in other people’s lives and less in your own. And when you’re constantly focusing on other people’s lives, you find yourself comparing them to your own. Most of the time, it won’t hold up to whatever social media projection they’re putting out.

You can protect your privacy.

You might find that you've been oversharing on social media or practicing sharing methods that aren't keeping you safe. Or maybe you just want to keep some things personal. Despite what you may think, everything you put on social media is permanent, so be careful! Taking a break from social media is a good way to feel like you're regaining control over your privacy and over what people know about you.

You can better communicate with friends.

Social media can make it easy to give a friend a "Like" rather than a text or call. It can also make you think you know what's going on in a friends life when you really might not. When you remove social media from the equation, you may find it easier to talk to friends and grow closer to them instead of just remaining friends on the surface level.

You can stop stalking that person.

Let's be honest, we all have that one person that we all have trouble not creeping on. Social media can make it really hard to move on from past relationships or friendships if you are constantly looking at pictures that make you sad or angry. Not allowing yourself to look at someone's photos or posts can help speed up the process of moving on.

How do I start?

One way to wind yourself off social media a little bit is to turn your cellular data off for certain apps so that when you're out somewhere you won't have the ability to scroll through your feed, and you'll have to be more connected with wherever you are. If you want to make sure none of your accounts are permanently deleted, you can just delete the social media app so that you won't have the ability to access your accounts, but they'll still be there when you get back!

Breaks from social media are a great way to reduce anxiety, focus on yourself more, and help take back the time that you've been wasting online and channel that into something more useful. Don't be afraid to unplug, especially with the new semester quickly arriving.