Social media is a great source of information, inspiration, and community, especially in the homeschooling world. It definitely gave me so much confidence in the beginning that I could homeschool my kids. I met many amazing women that I could confide in and ask questions if I needed help. I have found countless great book suggestions, curriculum to research, and projects to try out.
Yet in the end, if not used intentionally, social media can really bring us down. Seeing into the lives and homes of SO many different families can lead to overwhelm, overload, and lots of doubt. I know we all have thought “Am I doing enough? Am I doing this right? Am I using the right curriculum? Am I reading the right books? Should I add in another subject or handcraft?” just by viewing what everyone is doing for their family on a constant basis.
It’s always the perfect time to start some “digital minimalism” and how to use your social media intentionally. Using it for your benefit to build up your confidence, knowledge, and reference later on. It should be full of what brings you join and inspiration, not to cause anxiety and doubt.
Today I’m going to share with you how I navigate Instagram and make it work for me. Doing these things allows me not to waste precious time endlessly scrolling, but seeing what I want to see and making it easy to come back to things that inspire or interest me.
Unfollow
Of course you knew this was first 😆. UNFOLLOW those who make you feel inferior or you don’t agree with. If every time you look at their account or posts and you feel discouraged or doubt in your own homeschool…unfollow! It is the best thing for your mental health! To unfollow someone: go to their profile>click “following” under their bio> select “unfollow.”
Unfollow those that you have the least interaction with. These are accounts that could be filling up your feed with things you no longer care about or many you didn’t even realize you were following. You can go to your own profile and select “following” at the top. Then select “least interacted with” and unfollow any of the accounts you no longer wish to see just by clicking the “following” button next to their picture.
Unfollow big brands and stores. This year I started unfollowing big store names and brands that are constantly pushing out new merchandise. If I don’t see it, I won’t be tempted to buy something I probably don’t need. If there is something I need or am looking for, I can specifically look it up on my own to find it anytime.
Mute
Ok, let’s say there is a page that you really like, but you don’t want to see their posts or stories ALL the time. You don’t have to unfollow, but you can mute them! This was a game changer for me last year. 😆 There are quite a few accounts that I might follow for homeschool things or collaborations, but if I don’t want to see all their posts, I mute them. Go to their profile>select “following” under their bio>select mute> you can choose to mute their posts, stories, or both. This will just hide their posts or stories from your page and you won’t have to see them unless you go directly to their page.
*Using my friend Cassie @homecenteredlearning in these photos for demonstration purposes, but she is an amazing account I love to follow! Her account is super helpful and inspiring! 🥰
Star/Bell
Alright, so what about your favorite accounts?! This is important too, that you make them top priority so that you will always see what they share. Go to their profile> select the “following” button under their bio> select the star “add to favorites.” This will make sure their posts, stories, reels, etc. always show up on your feed.
You can also select the bell shaped icon on the top of their profile page and select post, stories, or reels if you want to be notified anytime they post.
Favorite Feed
This next hack is something I try to do every time I get on to scroll. When you open up your Instagram homepage feed, tap on the large Instagram on the very top left corner. Now you can select “following” and your feed will only be full of all the accounts you follow. Not a bunch of random posts and adds, but ones you are actually interested in. You can also select “favorites” and your feed will only be full of all the accounts you starred as a favorite. Such a great way to quickly view and see what you want, rather than endlessly scrolling through everything.
Like, Comment, Share, Save
A great way to continue to see your favorite accounts is to engage with their posts. If you don’t have a lot of time, just a “heart” will keep their posts visible in your feed.
Organizing Saved Posts
How many of you actually go back to your saved posts? I save a lot and love to refer back to those posts on books, curriculum, crafts, learning games, and more when we get to a particular unit or grade level.
You can organize your saved posts & reels into “collections” so that they are easier to find whenever you need them. It may take some time to get started and clean them all out, but it is so helpful for later and easy to save more.
How to make a “collection:” Go to your profile >select the 3 lines at the top right> scroll down & select “saved.” Click on the + sign in the top right corner> name your collection> press next> select all the posts you want in the collection> select done. Continue to do that for as many collections as you wish.
My collections are organized by: Art/Music, Science, History, Books for Kids, Books for Me, Recipes, Games, Nature, Curriculum, Travel, Gift Ideas, Crafts, Inspiration, and then one for each of the holidays. Now anytime I find a post I want to save, I can easily save it to the correct collection and easily find it again later.
Saving a post to a collection. When you find a post you want to save> click the bookmark in the right corner> select the collection you want it to go in. When you find a reel you want to save> click the 3 dots in the bottom right corner … > click the bookmark sign> select what collection you want it in.
Social Media Break/Limit Time on Apps
When it all becomes too much, the best thing is to try a social media break. Taking a week, two, or sometimes more, break from social media has always been SO helpful for me. Taking that break re-energizes me, inspires my creativity, and helps me get a lot more done! I usually always take the weekends off Instagram and sometimes a full week at a time every few months.
Another way to limit your time on social media is to delete the app on your phone and only have access to it on an iPad or computer. Not having that easy access right at your fingertips will definitely help.
You can also set time limits on certain apps on your phone. This YouTube video shares with you how to set time limits for any app to help you regulate your time scrolling.
I hope this helps you use some of your social media intentionally, as well as lead to less doubt and comparison in your homeschool. Please leave any other tips or things that have helped you navigate social media in the comments below!
Admiration and inspiration are beneficial, but “comparison is the thief of joy.”
Many Blessings!
Lindsay
This is a great post as I have been limiting time on IF, but also have been seeing SO many sponsor pages. It also seems so many accounts are pushing sales. I do utilize the “save” feature and have several collections. Is there a way to go back and sort them alphabetically (this way I can locate them faster when saving)? Thank you for all of this helpful information on how to let it work for us.