The Social Media Burnout

10 Simple Steps To Avoid Social Media Burnout

It’s no secret that most of us are hooked on social media for personal and business purposes. These platforms have evolved into a monstrous communications hub, a source of valuable information, and a critical marketing channel. For one, we resort to Facebook, instead of phone calls, to check on relatives and friends. We also find out who got married, went on vacation, or passed away through Facebook. On top of that, we use chat groups on Messenger and Whatsapp to socialize with our friends! Community and International news are blasted throughout Facebook sometimes before we even check the newspaper feed first.

What else? The other major social network that rivals Facebook is Instagram, a platform that has become a leading entertainment, arts, and lifestyle display. We find out about our favourite brands and companies’ latest products through their IG posts and stories. We can’t wait to check the amusing story feeds and videos as if they were a favourite Soap Opera show we cannot miss.

Pintrest is on the rise and is a significant source of inspiration for fashion, beauty, arts, and travel. As well, there is LinkedIn, the place to network with clients and prospects, showcase achievements, share expertise, and find the next business gig. The list of social media networks is hard to keep up with every day. It is continually evolving as people rush to join the latest and coolest platform or app. No wonder why traditional publications are struggling with audience reach!

With 24/7 connections, ongoing notifications, and buzzes, add to that the need for a business and corporate professional to stay connected online, people are bound for social media burnout. Consequently, how can we maintain a healthy mental balance while being overwhelmed with Social Media?

Let’s first identify what is a “social media burnout”

According to Psychology Today, burnout is a state of chronic stress characterized as physical or emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, or lack of accomplishment. Things like the need to continually check the phone or computer, lack interest in other activities and hobbies, inability to focus and complete tasks, and trouble sleeping are some of the symptoms of social media burnout.

How can a business owner or a marketer avoid social media burnout without feeling disconnected from their clients and audience? Experts suggest following the ten simple steps to maintain sanity:

Set specific time for social media interactions

Schedule a time of the day for social media by setting up a time-slot to review analytics, post updates, or respond to inquiries. Realistically, you don’t have to do all these tasks within one time-slot but try to break them down through the day. However, by doing so, you avoid getting distracted by scrolling through feeds. For example, break down each task and allocate time to complete it.

Track your time on social media

Tracking the amount of time spent on social media gives us a perspective on whether we’re spending too much or too little time. By tracking time, one can better manage and control the urge to go online.

Use apps to limit time on social media

Many apps can track time spent on social media, such as Offtime, Moment, and Flipd. The great thing about these apps is the ability to set alarms and track the amount of time spent on social medial

Turn off notifications

Notifications are very distracting and stressful. It’s evident they give the illusion of urgency when most of the time, they are just “notifications”! So, turn the notifications off on your phone and computer! Although it can be impractical to turn them off during business hours, I suggest allowing yourself free time outside business hours to where you can turn off notifications even for a couple of hours in the evening (like during dinner time, workout, or shopping).

Unless it’s an emergency, avoid checking work related posts

This is a grey area for businesses and employees, but an organization should set up a rule as to what constitutes an emergency. I find this can be an issue when working on a demanding project tied to deadlines or unexpected challenges. So my suggestion is to sit with your team and figure out a schedule that divides and conquers social media or email handling between team members.

Go for a 30 min walk without the phone and move away from the desk

Seriously it’s not just a good physical exercise, but it’s an amazing mental workout. Walking is a way to clear the mind, helps focus, and figure out how to deal with online sensitive clients. Did someone piss you off with a nasty email or comment? Take a break and go out for a walk, for at least you’re saving yourself the attempt to lash back at the instigator (wink).

Close your eyes and get some sleep

Sleeping is critical to maintaining good health. To make sure you get a good night’s sleep, try to turn off your devices an hour before bed-time. According to research, blue light, which emits from these devices, limits the production of Melatonin’s sleep hormone. In turn, it makes it harder to fall asleep.

Read a newspaper or magazine

This is a smart way to avoid scrolling through your device for news and entertainment. As well, it eliminates the pressure on eyesight and neck. For example, I admit that I’m finding my sight deteriorating and less focussed, especially after spending time looking and scrolling through feeds! When that happens, I just put the device down and flip through magazine pages to normalize my sight.

Delete the phone apps

That’s shocking, but since most Social Media platforms are available on laptops, deleting them from a phone will help reduce the urge to grab the phone. This will, in turn, help structure the day and manage the amount of time spend on Social Media.

Start a new hobby

Some people might find this idea too difficult to implement especially if they have kids. As parents, we tend to neglect to learn a new hobby, but there are many simple hobbies we can start with our children—for example, cards, board games, coloring, and many more that can be performed at home. Try to remember the activities you liked to do as a child and make a hobby out of that.

In Summary: These are a few ideas you can implement immediately to eliminate social media burnout. Remember, work is always important, but one’s health is detrimental to great performance.

I invite you to share your idea or ideas on how we can all avoid social media burnout. Feel free to comment on this post or share it with someone who may benefit from the tips.