A friend recently asked me a surprisingly interesting question: “Míša, what exactly doesn’t sit well with you about social media? Why haven’t you been active for so long?” For many people — especially those active on social platforms — it’s almost incomprehensible.
The reason is simple. I lose my sense of flow and mindfulness in everyday life. Creating content for social media, posting regularly, and even consuming content from these platforms makes me incredibly scattered. As a mother of two small children, I have very little time for myself. I’ve become a minimalist and an essentialist even in how I spend my time. I’d rather write a book, go out into nature, or learn Portuguese. I actually enjoyed creating content for social media, but I was constantly doing it on the go — while breastfeeding, in line, at the playground, and before bed. If you had met me a year ago, you would have seen me with my head buried in my phone. And that’s exactly what started bothering me. I even began showing signs of imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual doubts their skills, talent, or achievements and has a persistent internal fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despite clear evidence of competence, those experiencing this syndrome do not believe they deserve their success or happiness.
Source: Wikipedia
I was inspiring others to embrace minimalism and calm — while I myself was a frazzled multitasking rocket.
I was overdoing it. My husband started getting jealous of my phone and Instagram. It really couldn’t go on like that. I felt every single day — even on vacation — that I had to stay active online or my project would collapse. I also experienced intense FOMO. Do you know this term?
With increased consumption of social media, our feeling that we’re missing out intensifies. This phenomenon is called “Fear of Missing Out” — the fear that something is slipping away from us because something new is constantly happening in the fast-paced online world.
On Instagram, an estimated 95 million photos and videos are published daily, and on Facebook 300 million photos! These numbers are unbelievable. Every second something new happens in the virtual world. But is that how life works? Life flows differently — slower. Something new and exciting doesn’t happen every minute, nor are we constantly missing out. In fact, every minute spent disconnected from reality and dependent on social media means missing something truly important: our own reality and the present moment. Something wonderful can happen right before our eyes — a child’s smile or a bird in flight — and we may not notice it because we’re consuming virtual reality.
Say YES to life
Replace fear with joy — joy that you’re not missing anything. When you say no to something, you’re actually saying yes to many other things. When one door closes, many others open. Saying no to social media and time spent online means saying yes to life and activities that bring far greater satisfaction.
I was surprised by how many international bloggers openly embrace leaving social media and call it one of the best decisions of their lives. And I’m one of them. You can practice JOMO — the Joy of Missing Out — in other areas of life too. It includes learning to say no to everything that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t align with your life vision. When I stopped consuming and creating content on social media, I began declining collaboration offers that didn’t fit my project. At first, I feared where this would lead — turning down work opportunities — but it led me exactly where I needed to go. I learned to practice JOMO with events that didn’t bring me joy or that I simply didn’t feel like attending. It’s such a relief to stand by yourself and not force anything. It gives you energy and finally ends the exhausting cycle of rushing and feeling like you don’t have time for anything. You stop feeling like life is slipping through your fingers.
So now I’m not active on social media. Besides spending time with my family, I’m fully focused on writing my book — and the deeper concept of Healing Clean‑Up is emerging. Thanks to hundreds of hours of writing — which I truly enjoy, which doesn’t scatter my attention, and which gives me energy — the book will be published soon. I believe I don’t need to do handstands on organizers in short inspirational videos to bring you quality content. And who knows, maybe I’ll return to social media someday. Right now, I feel about them the way a former smoker feels about cigarettes. Maybe it will pass. But one thing I know for sure: I will never be as active as I once was.
Try reflecting on how much time social media consumption takes from you. When I see how much calm has entered my life — and how many pages of my book I’ve already written — there’s truly a lot I’m not missing out on at all.
With joy, I announce that my book *Healing Clean‑Up* was published in December 2024 and you can purchase it HERE.
