Social Media & Your Mental Health

                                       

                                    How Much is too Much?

There are a lot of articles today stressing the importance of taking regular breaks from social media. What are the benefits of this, and what if it's part of your career?

Benefits of spending less time on social media

Although there are many positives to social media, both professionally and personally, there are just as many negatives with overuse.

There can be a lot of pressure to post high-quality, flattering (which is oftentimes airbrushed or photoshopped), and engaging photos and captions. This can lead to comparisons with other people's photos that you may feel you don't measure up to. This may also lead to low self-esteem and mental health issues.

It's easy to get caught up in posting or viewing other profiles and then losing track of time as a result. I've been there myself. Sometimes it's even worse if I'm only viewing posts versus creating them for my freelance writing and book marketing business. It's so easy to lose time browsing other profiles (especially for my personal account, which is just for fun) when they're entertaining, informative, and visually appealing.

Spending too much time on social media can also affect your social life. It can make you feel lonely or isolated. You may become less physically active in general and get behind on other work and errands that need to be done. 

It's also not good for your eyes. Too much screen time can lead to dry eyes, eye strain, headaches and neck pain, and less focus overall. It also can make it harder to fall asleep, especially if you go on late at night, due to the blue light emitted from the screen.

There can also be a lot of negativity and drama on social media, especially in the comments section. (I try to limit reading them, especially if it's a post about controversial topics.) People can also feed off of other's negativity or enable others (even friends) to keep posting negative content.

Here are some tips that are beneficial in balancing your time spent on social media, even if it's part of your career:

~Schedule regular break times each day and when you will be posting content. Research the most effective times to post and engage. This will help decrease the pressure you may feel when under time constraints.

 ~Don't constantly check your messages and notifications during the day (especially on your phone!). It may even be beneficial to silence your phone or put it in another room (such as during lunch, for example).

~Don't go on for 2-3 hours before bed. Turn your device off or keep it out of your room if you have to.

~Make sure you are physically active and spend time doing things you enjoy. Spend more time with family and friends.

 

Spend time taking care of you. You deserve it!