I’ll Be Back Soon!

I’ve decided to take a short break. For the next two weeks (give or take), I’ll be off the blog and Instagram.

(This is a longer-than-usual post, so grab your drink of choice and settle in.)

Let me explain…

Lately (starting last year), I’ve been feeling a bit off. I’ve been struggling with comparisonitis, feeling “not good enough,” poor time management, lack of motivation, fear of failure, procrastination, and the like. If you’ve been following Inspired by Charm for a while now, you know that these aren’t new struggles for me. – I assume some of these things are just part of my makeup. (Lovely, right? Haha.)

However, these struggles have been more intense lately (maybe because of our current world situation), and a reset is in order. I need to take a little time off to look at how I currently spend my days and how I want to spend my days. (This involves less time on my phone and more time creating!) I want to make and do without the fear of failing or disappointing someone. I want to journal and reflect. I want to get a better grasp on my time management and my schedule. I want to rediscover what brings me joy for its own sake.

I write this from a good place. There’s no need to worry. I’m fine. I will be back in a week or two, hopefully, better than ever. It’s been years since I took an intentional break from it all, and I need one. If you’re someone who spends a lot of your day online, I’m certain you know what I mean and how I’m feeling.

Instagram, in particular, has become a challenging place for me these past few months. (I think it’s been worse because most of us are spending more time at home and doing a lot of aimless scrolling. Do you know what I mean?) Recently, I looked at how much time I spend on the app. It averages 2.5 hours a day. That’s 912.5 hours or 38 days per year! (And you don’t even want to know about the time I’m on my phone every day. It’s scary!) I am so thankful for the app because it allows me to connect and share, but I don’t want to spend 38 days of my year on an app, especially when it is time just scrolling and feeling bad, guilty, and not good enough.

I plan to step away for about two weeks. When I was thinking about doing this, one week didn’t feel like long enough. I’m not sure two weeks is enough time either, but that’s the plan for now. (In some ways, I want a month-long or even a year-long hiatus.)

The Plan for My Time Off:

I’m still figuring out my plan for this time. I want to keep it flexible, but here are my thoughts at present:

• I’m deleting social media (Instagram and Facebook) from my phone. I plan to avoid both for two weeks. And as I continue to think about this plan, it’s making me crazy nervous because there is a part of Instagram that brings me SO MUCH JOY, and I’m going to miss it. Sharing, inspiring, and connecting in positive ways is fuel for me. For example, it was so much fun the other day when I gave folks a tour of my landscaping. I loved all of our conversations in my messages. BUT, I realize I do need better boundaries, and even though it may be difficult, it’s a necessary step. I will probably also be sharing my plans for less phone time once this is all done. The goal is to create steps and a plan to limit how much time I’m staring at my screen.

• I have a list of projects, recipes, and other things I want to do during this time so I’ll probably continue to “work” (photographing, writing, etc.). However, I want to approach this as a creative time rather than work time. I know that sounds confusing, but I haven’t quite figured out how to manage that yet, so we’ll see.

• Part of that work will include updating some old blog posts so you might see an old post reemerge on IBC. However, nothing new will be posted.

• Other things I want to do: clean and organize spaces in my home, paint a room (My office! Stay tuned for that!), spend time outdoors, journal, read, get back in an exercise routine or just move, listen to music (My new Ultimate Folk playlist is coming together beautifully by the way. I’m obsessed!),…The list goes on. Generally speaking, I just want to do things that fuel my soul and fill my heart. It’s not that I haven’t been doing those things; I’ve just forgotten how to do them with intention and focus.

How to Get Your IBC Fix While I Take a Break:

If you’re looking to stay connected in my absence, you have a couple of options:

• First, I started a new email series where I share some decorating secrets. If you haven’t yet joined that series, you can do so HERE. You’ll get a new email every day for 6 days, so that should give you your IBC fix.

• Second, I will continue to send out my weekly emails. If you’re not on the IBC Mailing List, you can join HERE.

• Finally, I post on the IBC Facebook page several times a day. It’s a smattering of both current and past posts. So if you want to follow along with some older posts and maybe catch things you missed, join me there.

Ultimately, I hope to be able to set new goals and new boundaries for myself regarding social media, work, and phone use by the end of these two weeks. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I know that I will be taking more time off Instagram. Perhaps I won’t post on weekends or maybe I’ll just limit my scrolling time. We’ll see.

I will also be adjusting my work and personal schedule. I’ve decided to add more me-time. I want to schedule time to paint or draw, to read, to visit interesting local places, museums, and restaurants (when they open) that have been on my “To-Visit” List. There’s just so much I’d rather be doing that’s more life-giving than staring at my phone. I’m on a mission to bring more joy into my days and contentment into my life. I want to fall back in love with my work and how I spend my time.

Want To Know How This Hiatus Goes?

If you want to hear more about this, it’s likely that when I return I will share a bit about my experience and time away. It might be a disaster and I’ll fail miserably, or it might (hopefully) be a wild success and I’ll walk away with a fresh perspective, a clearer mind, better habits, and more tools and ideas to share with all of you.

Until then, you will be missed. Please take care of yourself. Be safe and stay healthy. I will see you soon!

Sending you lots of e-love!