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Mindfully Managing Social Media
Social media can be all-consuming, which makes it hard to shut off when you need to. That is why it is important to put mindful social media practices in place. When you don’t, it makes it VERY easy to get trapped checking social media constantly, comparing yourself and your business to others, and feeling unproductive.
Plus, most of the time on social media, we create these little circles of people and things that are like us. We like to surround ourselves with things that relate to our likes and dislikes. This can make it hard to hear your unique voice and find what makes you stand out when all you see is the same old content on your social feeds.
Working in the digital/social world for 6 years, I have figured out a few ways that definitely help with managing the overwhelming feelings that can come from constantly being ‘plugged in’ and can help you find your voice again on social media!
Something that has been a large source of stress for me over the years is the constant flow of notifications. When you hear dings and see your phone light up with little red numbers you want… no you NEED to check it! Or you think you do, but really you don’t. Setting up your notifications to not push through to your phone is a life changer! You can set them to maybe only go to your email or even just one time a day you get a notification of everything that has occurred throughout the day. I find this to be very helpful because you get to choose when you are ready to view your notifications.
This brings me to time blocking. If you are afraid to turn your notifications off for fear of missing something important, that is why you need to just set up efficient times where you check in. Time blocking lets you take back control of your time. Weird, right? I used to check my phone every time there was a notification, which led me to be very unproductive. I couldn’t get anything done because I was constantly looking at what was happening online. Now, I have designated times where I look at these notifications for a set amount of time whether that is 30 minutes or an hour. This lets me solely focus on those notifications during that time and focus on my other work during my other designated hours during the day.
Another way to manage the feelings of stress is taking away scrolling! Scrolling just leads most people down a rabbit hole of looking more and more and more until two hours have passed. It is good to spend time engaging and interacting with other accounts, but again, if you feel like you get stuck in this pattern, give that time blocking a try!
Automatic responses are your best friend when it comes to managing your social media. Many people set these up on email when they are out of the office, but you can do this for your social media too! This lets you put your mind at ease that if someone does reach out to you when you aren’t online, they know that you will get back to them as soon as possible and they don’t feel like their message went off into the void.
Some people may not realize the effect that social media can have on them physically and emotionally. And not just social media; it’s the internet in general. It is good to do mental check-ins with yourself so you know how you are feeling. Meditating is a really great way to do this. I recently found this mindful podcast called, Social Media Unwind, and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it throughout the day to center myself and let my mind rest from all of the screen time for just a second. If you feel like you might need a second to relax, try it out!
Last but not least, if social media is a major cause of stress for you, then it might be time to get help! It is okay for people to take breaks online, but we don’t think the same is necessarily true for businesses. Hiring a team to stand behind you and help take the load of social media off your shoulders may be exactly what you need. Did we mention that we know some people that might be able to help? ? Marketing TEA can definitely help you create unique, original content that gives your brand the ability to connect and build relationships.
If you are a business owner and are trying to balance social media in your workday, we hope these tips will help you! Ready to take some things off your plate? We’ve got you!