Creating Supportive Boundaries Around Screen Time with Taylor Morrison

How has your screen time been impacted by the pandemic? This is just one of the many questions we ask Taylor around our relationship with our screens and creating an unplugged self-care practice. Taylor Morrison is an international speaker, facilitator, and the founder of Inner Workout. She’s on a mission to help others beat burnout by building sustainable self-care practices. Taylor is also the host of the podcast, Inner Warmup a revolutionary podcast on self-discovery that I highly recommend.

In this episode we discuss the impact that social media has had on our well-being and where to begin if you are considering taking some time away. Building a healthy relationship with our screens is so much more than taking back our time. It’s taking back our sense of self and our ability to have discernment for our lives and our needs. We also dive deep into a conversation on self-care, with the acknowledgment that what self-care looks like for us now, will look different for us with time- and will continue to morphe and shift as we evolve and move through life.

Listen to this episode for support with developing a healthy relationship with social media and tips on becoming your own self-care guru.

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HIGHLIGHTS

BECOMING MINDFUL OF OUR RELATIONSHIP SOCIAL MEDIA

Have you ever felt stressed at the thought of taking some time off from social media? The modern world has us operating as if we need to be plugged in constantly or face serious consequences. This could mean a decrease in engagement or following. The truth is that, life is so full outside of the constructs of these apps. When sharing her own story of taking a couple months off from IG this year, Taylor mentions her following actually continued to grow despite her absence. The time away from social media allowed for reflection and the results had Taylor ready to step away more often.

Taylor reminds us to be curious about our social media experience and engage in a way that feels good. If posting in your stories every day doesn’t feel good don’t do it. Reels are fun but don’t feel forced to create them just because others are doing so. If it doesn’t feel aligned don’t feel pressured to participate. Once we start re-evaluating how we use social media we can start adjusting in a way that is balanced and grounding.

NAVIGATING THE IMPULSE FOR INSTANT GRATIFICATION

An important part of our conversation with Taylor involved reflecting on what needs we are trying to fill when we are using social media. You are often looking for something when you open an app such like LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram etc. Taylor suggests that we take time to ask ourselves a few questions.

Am I looking for validation or a creative outlet?

Is there something else that I could be doing instead?

When we reflect and think on our patterns. We can adjust what isn’t helping us be our most authentic selves.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR NEEDS TO PRACTICE SELF-CARE

An aspect of this interview  that really resonated with us when speaking with Taylor were her insightful takes on self-care. Often when talking  about self-care we think bubble baths, face masks, and candles. Those things are all nice, but it is so much more than that. Self-care also looks like asking for help, we can’t do it all and that’s ok, we weren’t meant to. Learning to delegate and ask for help is a sign of having healthy boundaries.

Taylor also emphasizes that she doesn’t want to be your self-help guru. While she owns and operates a self-care company. Her goal is to provide tools and practices that help us realize that we are our own gurus. This tidbit really hit home as self-care is a buzzword right now. Influencers and celebrities have misled people into thinking that a one-size fits all approach to self-care is sustainable. When in all actuality your ritual and practice is unique to you. Rather than try to sell us on looking outwardly for our peace. Taylor founded Inner Workout to help folks build the practice of self-care themselves. We are all different individuals and our lived experiences really shape what our practice can look like. Inner Workout encourages us to stay curious in our pursuit of wellness and adjust accordingly.

TIPS FOR CREATING BOUNDARIES WITH OUR SCREENS

It is totally fair to be a little hesitant on where to begin when re-evaluating our relationship with social media. Fortunately Taylor shares some tips to help jumpstart your journey of taking breaks and creating space.

Consider taking some time off of social media. This will help you evaluate when you are reaching for your phone. What sort of activities are triggering you to reach for your phone, is it boredom? Are you checking socials out of obligation? Society has led us to believe that we must operate on social media in a way that favors the algorithm. It should go without saying that we should not live our lives based on a mathematical equation… yet, many of our choices on social apps are fueled by that burden.

HELPFUL TIPS FOR CREATING MORE BOUNDARIES WITH SOCIAL MEDIA:

• Take a weekend off from social media and journal the times you feel an impulse to check your apps. Write down your thoughts and feelings. Think to yourself; Why do I use these apps? How was I feeling when I had the urge to open them?
• Delete the apps you are wanting to stay off of from your phone. In her personal experience, Taylor felt less inclined to log onto the apps when she had to redownload them onto her device.
• Are you hoping to increase your productivity in other parts of your life such as work or a project while taking this time away? Consider listening to programs such as The Flow State Podcast. Taylor shares that she uses this program to encourage focus and inspiration while also allowing time for regular breaks.
• A tip that we absolutely love is taking a mindful moment with a meditation bowl or chime app. Taylor enjoys using this tool, as it allows her to become aligned and intentional about the task that she needs to work on.
• When you have a project to complete put your devices on Do Not Disturb. This allows you to be able to focus without distraction from the outside world.
• Use the Inner Workout’s Instead deck when you experience a trigger to use your social media apps. The deck offers practices and affirmations that you can take action on. The intention is to pour back into yourself rather than drain your energy. Next time you are feeling called to be on your phone try pulling from the Instead deck beforehand. You can purchase the Instead card deck linked in the show notes above.

Did you enjoy this episode of the Balanced Black Girl Podcast? It is our hope that his episode has inspired you to take a breather from social media, set and maintain boundaries around asking for help, and to develop a self-care practice that is perfect for you.

Personally, Taylor has us motivated to create more time for ourselves by re-examining what it means to connect with the world, and to take a leadership role in our self-care ritual.

If you feel called to do so head to our latest Instagram post at @balancedblackgirlpodcast and share what ways you are taking your power back when it comes to screen time + self-care

Next week we are chatting with the Crunk Feminist Collective on Taking Our Power Back from Oppressive Systems

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