I'm in a rocky relationship
A candid exploration of breaking up with Instagram as a business owner in order to rediscover my creative fire.
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Hello you gorgeous and wonderful human!
I need to confess something: Instagram and I are in a bit of an unhealthy relationship.
You know how in Emerge we talk about the Spell of Relational Alchemy? Usually we're focusing on our relationships with actual humans - boundaries, asking for what we want, all that good stuff. But sometimes we end up in wrong relationship with a thing. Could be our businesses, an idea, or (in my case) a social media platform.
What do I mean by "wrong relationship"? Well, I've given Instagram way more power than it deserves. I've gotten stuck believing my business can only be successful if I crack the Instagram code - do all the reels, make engaging content, post stories every day... you get the idea. And look, if that brought me joy, brilliant! But honestly? It excites me about as much as doing my taxes.
The frustrating bit is that I've let this story completely block my creativity. Every time I think about promoting what I do, my brain goes "guess we have to post on Instagram" and just... stops there. Which is ridiculous because I am REALLY creative and there are LOADS of other ways to run a successful business!
(Time for some brutal honesty - I actually had this same realisation two years ago. Took a big break from Instagram... and then just sort of disappeared for a few months because I didn't replace it with any other marketing. Whoops.)
But things are different now. My relationship with creativity has shifted. My relationship with my business has evolved. And most importantly? I've gotten much better at understanding what I actually need.
What I need most of all right now is quiet. I can't have my head filled with 1-minute audio snippets and a hundred different voices. Sure, sometimes the Instagram rabbit hole leads to amazing content (like tortoises munching on lettuce or someone building a sex couch in their bedroom). But is that really how I want to spend my work day? Or am I just avoiding the uncomfortable feeling of sitting with a blank page? And when I do create, is the voice in my head mine? Or am I just mimicking what I’ve seen everyone else do?
So here's my plan:
Instagram's getting deleted from my phone (non-negotiable)
Once a week, I'll reinstall briefly to post stories - maybe link to newsletters or YouTube videos, or just pop in to say hi
Once or twice a month, I'll post a carousel updating folks on what I've been doing elsewhere online
DMs stay open but I'll check them weekly
As I start making YouTube videos, I might experiment with YouTube shorts and therefore reels, but possibly posting them through a scheduling tool
If making Instagram content ever feels fun again, I'll revisit these guidelines because we’re always allowed to change our minds!
That's it! My plan for fixing my relationship with Instagram (and content creation in general).
I'd love to hear your thoughts and questions! Just hit reply - it goes straight to my inbox.
Keep being messy and incredible, Joeli