Batching your Instagram usage

There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. So what about Instagram usage?

It’s a well-known fact that digital screens pretty much destroy us in every way possible. And I realize that I’m discussing the evils of digital screens while typing and staring at a digital screen.

Necessary evils?

However, when you combine digital screens + the constant (see: unhealthy) dopamine and serotonin rush(es) + the absolute time dump that Instagram provides, you might catch yourself thinking, “ohhh… yeah. Okay, probably not good.”

Like I did.

Especially as a business owner. Especially as a creative business owner who needs all of the help she can get to remain creatively joyful and energetic.

Now, social media (i.e., Instagram) can be a wonderful thing for us creative business owners. It allows us to find and foster community where we might otherwise feel isolated. But there truly is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

So, if every time you open the app, you’re feeling irritable, less than, exasperated, burnt out or just bored, it might be time to batch your Instagram usage. I’m here to explain what I mean by that, and why it matters 👇

Batching your Instagram usage: the what, why and how

What batching Instagram usage even means

So, we’ve heard a TON of people discuss the merits of batching content creation. In fact, many of us have probably applied and lived by those strategies over the last couple of years.

But why not batch our social media usage, too?

A couple of weeks ago, I had a bit of a **moment** (aka, breakdown) where I simply couldn’t handle one more minute staring at the Instagram app, while awaiting… something. What was I waiting for? I had no idea, but I couldn’t do it anymore.

So, I logged off. I added a quick little out of office-esque note to my IG bio that stated that I’d be taking a social hiatus until 9/1, and I left.

I didn’t log back in. In fact, I didn’t even get the urge to click the app and log back in. And then I thought… WHY AREN’T WE ALL DOING THIS?

I believe in finding ways to make tools and platforms work for you, rather than you working for them. We’ve been conditioned to alter the way we market, create and even spend our time, because we believe it’s necessary to the health of our accounts, and therefore, to the health of our businesses.

But why not just take the same thought process and strategy that you apply to batching your content, and apply it to how you spend your time within the app itself? We’ve seen the creative and mental benefits from time blocking and creating content for days or weeks at a time in one sitting - why wouldn’t those same benefits apply to changing the way we dedicate our time to scrolling, liking and commenting within the actual platform?

Why batching your Instagram usage matters

Within just the first week of my intentional social hiatus, I:

Redecorated my entire apartment
Reorganized and donated all of the things that I’d been meaning to
Decided to learn how to quilt
Went and bought all the tools I’d need in order to learn how to quilt
Began quilting (while saying, “I am a quilting genius” over and over)
Dedicated my extra time to listening to an educational podcast that teaches me beginner photography techniques (highly recommend)

IN ONE WEEK.

When I stopped to take stock of the list above, I was equally thrilled and also ashamed of all of the time I’d wasted just scrolling on the app. Not only that, but any time I wasn’t spending scrolling through Instagram, I spent being too tired to do anything else. Because screens = bad for our eyes, bad for our brains, and bad for our inspiration and creativity.

And guess what? I still received email list sign ups (because my opt-in is linked on my IG profile). I still received inquiries. The content I had already created on Instagram continued to cycle and serve, and I got to simply stop feeling so frustrated, and refocus my time on things that lit me up, instead.

HOW to batch your Instagram usage

Well, well, well… you’re intrigued, aren’t you? It was the quilting, wasn’t it?

If you’re saying to yourself, “you know, I think I wanna give this a try,” here are a few tips!

First, select your batching window. Personally, I’m playing with the idea of logging in and using the app for one week of every month - that includes posting content within that week, engaging with my audience, and sharing any updates I might have via stories. The other 3 weeks? I’m off.
Every time you’re about to log off for your *blessed* days or weeks away from the app, post to your stories/feed and let your audience know that you’ll be away until a specific date.
Before you log off for your hiatus, share a little note in your IG bio that lets people know that you’ll be gone, and where they can find you otherwise. Mine: “I’m on a social hiatus until 9/1. Check out my link below!”
Consider adding a custom link to your bio that’ll include all of your resources: your blog, your freebies, your services, your portfolio, etc. I use Unfold (the free version), which links up with my Squarespace site, and have been happy with the results!
If you think you’ll struggle with wanting to log in and check your account, commit yourself to a creative project. It doesn’t have to be huge (like a quilt), but it should be intriguing enough to hold your attention.

And my last tip? Remember this: your business will not implode or disappear because you’re choosing to get off the app for a few days or weeks at a time. You have a website, you have existing clients, and you have a healthy marketing strategy.