With over 900 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and continues to grow at a steady pace. As a professional looking to advance your career, cultivate connections, and stay up-to-date on industry news, having an active presence on LinkedIn is practically a must these days. However, constant notifications and the pressure to keep your profile fresh can also feel draining. This brings up an important question: is it ever a good idea to take a break from LinkedIn or “hibernate” your account? Here we’ll explore the pros and cons of hibernating your LinkedIn account to help you decide if it’s the right move for you.
Why Consider Hibernating LinkedIn?
There are a few key reasons why you may want to hibernate your LinkedIn account, at least temporarily:
You’re facing LinkedIn fatigue
With a constant stream of notifications, messages, content, and invitations, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or burnt out from LinkedIn. Too much time scrolling can make you less productive at work. Hibernating your account for a set period of time can help you take a much-needed break and regain focus.
You want to minimize distractions
Similarly, constant pings and alerts from LinkedIn can be distracting if you are trying to focus and get work done. If you temporarily hibernate your account, you won’t have to deal with the distraction of notifications.
You’re between jobs
If you are unemployed or in between jobs, you may feel self-conscious about not having a current position listed on your profile. Some people prefer to hibernate their account rather than be contacted with irrelevant job openings or have to explain employment gaps to their network.
You need a social media break
Perhaps you want to take a general break from social media sites for your mental health. Hibernating your LinkedIn account can be part of an overall reset.
You want to revamp your profile
Hibernating LinkedIn can buy you time if you want to fully revamp your profile but don’t want recruiters or contacts seeing your profile mid-refresh.
Pros of Hibernating Your LinkedIn Account
If you do decide to hibernate your LinkedIn account, here are some of the biggest benefits you can expect:
A break from LinkedIn noise
Hibernating LinkedIn will immediately remove the distraction of constant notifications, messages, and feeds. The break can help improve your daily focus and productivity.
Time to revamp your profile
With your profile out of public view, you’ll have the freedom to fully revamp your profile content, job history, headshot, and more without any pressure.
More control over availability
Hibernating your account also gives you full control in temporarily pausing your availability to network or be contacted about job openings. You can take a breather and decide when you want to re-engage.
Peace of mind on job front
When between jobs, you may feel anxious about how it looks to connections. Hibernating your account removes this stress during your employment transition.
Improved daily focus
Without constant LinkedIn notifications and feeds, you should notice improved productivity and focus each day. Taking regular breaks can boost mental clarity.
Cons of Hibernating Your LinkedIn Account
However, there are also some potential downsides to be aware of if you disable your account:
Out of sight, out of mind
Hibernating your profile can lead to you being “out of sight, out of mind” with your network. Important connections and opportunities that arise may pass you by.
Harder to keep up momentum
Coming back after months away, you’ll have to work double-time to get back in the loop and build up your engagement again. Momentum will suffer.
Missing important industry news
Hibernating your account means you won’t see the latest news shared by your connections and companies you follow. You can easily get behind on industry happenings.
New gaps in your profile
Lengthy inactive periods on your profile can look suspicious to some employers. You may have to explain gaps if you hibernate your account for too long.
Reactivation limitations
LinkedIn only allows you to reactivate your account once every 60 days. Excessive hibernation could mean starting over completely.
Best Practices for Hibernating Your LinkedIn
If you do decide that a temporary break from LinkedIn is right for you, keep these best practices in mind:
Set a reactivation date
Be sure to schedule a specific date 2-3 months out when you will reactivate your account. Don’t leave it open-ended.
Export key connections
Download your network list so you still have a way to contact important connections if needed during your break.
Update your employment status
If you are between jobs, list yourself as a consultant or independent contractor so your employment status remains current.
Change notification settings
If hibernating, reduce email and mobile notifications to maintain your break when you return. Ease back into LinkedIn.
Keep your password handy
You’ll need your LinkedIn password to reactivate your account on your target date. Don’t lose it during your time away.
How Long Should You Hibernate LinkedIn?
When hibernating your LinkedIn account, how long should your break realistically be? Here are some recommendations on ideal timeframes:
1-2 weeks
If you just need a short mental health break from LinkedIn and social media, aim for 1-2 weeks away to reset.
1-3 months
For more of a profile refresh or if between jobs, plan for a 1-3 month break from your account to focus your energy.
3-6 months
Take 3-6 months off if you want more of an extended career break or sabbatical away from LinkedIn and networking.
6+ months
Breaks longer than 6 months will likely require you to rebuild your presence and explain employment gaps when you return.
Ultimately the ideal timeframe depends on your specific needs. But keep LinkedIn’s 60 day account reactivation policy in mind as you plan any hibernation period longer than 2-3 months.
Should You Delete or Just Disable Your LinkedIn Account?
When hibernating your LinkedIn account, you have two options:
Disabling your account
– Temporarily hides your profile from view but maintains all data and connections for when you reactivate.
– Lets you easily restart your account within 60 days with original profile intact.
Deleting your account
– Permanently erases all profile data, connections, messaging history, posts, etc.
– Requires starting completely from scratch if you return to LinkedIn later.
– Can be reversed within 14 days through limited account recovery option.
For most basic hibernation breaks, you likely just want to disable your profile temporarily rather than fully deleting. But deleting can make sense if you want a completely fresh start down the road.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn can feel overwhelming at times, completely removing your presence for an extended period does come with risks. The best approach is to find ways to healthily manage your LinkedIn usage rather than fully hibernate for months unless absolutely necessary. But for the right reasons and timeframe, temporarily disabling your account can provide a valuable reset.