You’re probably extremely familiar with the no-contact rule.
Even if you haven’t put it into practice (it’s hard, okay?!), you get the general gist of it and what it’s supposed to do. The question is, does it actually work?
Can cutting off your ex and basically deleting them from every facet of your life even on a temporary basis really benefit your emotional well-being?
Here’s why the no contact rule should basically be your BFF after a breakup. Trust me on this one.
1. Out of sight, out of mind
There’s literally zero possibility of you getting over your ex when they’re still part of your daily life. Sure, you may not live with them/see them in person anymore, but coming across all their Instagram selfies, Twitter memes, of Facebook status updates is not conducive to moving on. That’s not to say that implementing the no contact rule after your breakup will immediately mean you couldn’t care less about them, but it does mean that you won’t have much material over which to obsess, which makes a huge difference.
2. You get the time you need to process and heal
By cutting your ex out of your life and off your social media feeds, you give yourself vital time to process your emotions and what went on in your relationship and ultimately to begin the healing process. Maybe that process consists of a lot of meditations or going to the gym or taking up pottery. I dunno, that’s up to you. But all that time you used to spend contacting your former partner can not be focused solely on building a life you love and that makes you happy.
3. You get to enjoy being single
The no contact rule isn’t in place so that you can try to screw your breakup out of your head with some other rando. I mean, if you’re open about looking for a rebound, the other person is cool with it, and you practice safe sex, sure, go for it. But generally speaking, this “enjoy being single” lark is really about rediscovering who you are as an individual rather than the you that existed as someone’s girlfriend for however long your relationship lasted. Yes, dating can be part of that, but not right away.
4. You avoid being guilt-tripped, manipulated, or blamed
If your relationship was toxic in any way and your ex was a bit of a jerk, the no contact rule means your breakup draws a line between you. Not talking to them means they can’t manipulate you into coming back to them, nor can they verbally abuse you and cast blame on your or everything that went wrong. You don’t have time or space for that kind of negativity in your life.
