Over the years, I slowly began following more and more of my peers, colleagues, and even clients.

I started as ‘trying to build community’, then quickly meant I was second-guessing every piece of content I was posting.

Logging onto Instagram felt suffocating, confusing, and disorienting, so I started a little experiment for myself:

How might I feel if I stopped seeing everyone’s content?

First, I began with a purge of the accounts I follow.

I went from following 1000s of accounts to the 300s. This felt instantly freeing.

Then I began putting almost everyone else on mute. Friends, family, clients, colleagues, peers.

The closer their messaging was to mine, the quicker I muted them.

It’s been over 6 months since I’ve done this with no plans off unmuting anyone any time soon.

I feel more inclined to reach out to friends to connect vs. thinking that seeing their stories is the same as actually connecting- it is not.

I feel more clear and motivated about my life, content, message, and mission than I have in a long time.

I follow accounts that have nothing to do with my work and enjoy the time I do spend scrolling.

If someone’s work begins to feel too closely related to mind, I assess the relationship then decide: unfollow or mute?

It’s not personal.

It’s an act of self-care and self-preservation to maintain the integrity of your workspace.

Try for yourself..

Mute almost everyone for at least 30-days and see how much of you will come through in your content.