Episode 5: Avoiding The Social Media Trap...

So...I have a question for you.

How much time do you spend scrolling through social media on a daily basis? LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook...I know there's a whole lot more. Be really honest with yourself. It's possibly far more than you expected right?

Now hear me out before you you think I'm going all out on you, telling you that you're spending waaaaaay too much time messing around on your social media.

Because I'm not.

Not really.

Before we continue, I have another question for you. How often do you feel anxious? Or felt intimidated or inadequate due to what you have seen beautifully strewn into your feed?

Again, be honest. Me? I found myself constantly feeling inadequate and very grass is greener! Why couldn't I be like that? Why can't I do that?

2 years ago, I faced possibly my biggest mental and emotional downfall and I ended up cutting myself off from most social media platforms for around 6 months. Now that might sound terribly dramatic, but it was the best thing I could have done for myself.

It's far too easy to get caught up in the social media storm. With the increasing number of apps out there that require us to post at regular times to keep the dreaded algorithm going, it's unbelievable really. And it can absolutely take over.

I found by cutting my time down on social media, I became more present, more in the moment. My anxiety levels reduced dramatically and I was no longer forcing myself to post my activities online. I didn't need that recognition anymore, somehow. I was actually happy just being, well, me minus the likes and followers that I had become increasingly desperate to appease over the years. It felt like those likes had taken over my social media life, and if those likes dropped, well, clearly I wasn't doing well enough and maybe my achievements just weren't THAT impressive as I believed they were. For anyone who has watched Black Mirror- the first episode of season 3 completely opened my eyes to the effects I was beginning to experience. And it was actually really frightening in some ways!

By this point, you are probably thinking...Wow, this gal has serious annoyance issues when it comes to these socials. The fact is, I don't. I am just very aware of the effects it has on me if I get too involved with it. And surely, I am not the only one out there with a similar problem.

Nowadays, I am a lot more guided with my approach to these platforms. I find LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook incredibly useful for my business marketing and I have a couple of platforms I use for fun and personal connections, but I also have to limit my time spent on them to ensure I don't distract myself endlessly.

There is of course admirable beauty to having access to all these services especially they provide fabulous and creative ways to connect with our network- but it is easy to get caught in the trap so read on for a few ways to avoid this:

⚠️Limit your time spent on social media - recent studies suggest you should be limited to just 30 minutes of your day to ensure improved physical and mental health.

⚠️ Set your phone onto Do Not Disturb to eliminate any distractions from work tasks.

⚠️ Avoid checking your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It helps to both start and end the day on a positive note and hold back the onset of any anxiety caused by emails and social media platforms.

⚠️ Monitor your notification settings. It's easy to get overwhelmed by what seems like a million different app notifications blaring up on the screen throughout the day. Lucky for us there is a setting that you can control notifications coming through by selecting times you can receive notifications.

⚠️ Reshuffle your apps- humans are by fact creatures of habit so it's easy for us to know which app is where at the click of a button. Or the tap of a touchscreen...

⚠️ Make more time for face to face interaction with loved ones rather than relying on virtual conversations. Understandably, with long distance relationships this is where the beautiful side of social media is revealed.

⚠️ If you find it difficult implementing new habits then an accountability buddy might be the answer. Checking in with your new life changes can help you stay accountable daily and help you to beat the socials obsession.

Like with everything, there are pros and cons to the effortless use of social media. However the point I would like to highlight is the fact that it has been scientifically proven that things such as self-esteem, anxiety levels, sleep disorders, stress and general mood are all likely to drastically improve through decreased social screen time.

Perhaps put yourself up to the challenge and limit your scrolling time for one week, one month or even two? I'd love to hear your results!