Have a Healthy Relationship with Social Media

I have always been a moderate social media user.  I check it multiple times per day but I never really felt like I was addicted.

Quarantine has changed things.  Because I live alone, I have no one to talk to most of the time.  I feel like I have tried to replace my normal daily social interactions with scrolling Facebook.  But with the current political climate I feel like Facebook is not a healthy place to be.

Don’t get me wrong, it is important to speak out for what is right.  It is also important to be educated on current science of Coronavirus and how to keep yourself safe.  But, saturating your brain in all of that information for most of the waking hours will do a toll to your anxiety and your mental health.

I also have a hard time with my self-esteem if I spend too much time on social media.  It just reminds me that I’m single during quarantine while everyone else is posting cutesy pictures of all the quarantine activities their doing with their significant others and their kids.

So I had to cut the cord.

Now I don’t think that NO social media is a fair expectation.  I use it to promote my blog and TpT store, and a modest amount of social media isn’t going to hurt you if you use your time wisely.

Don’t be afraid to unfollow

I have become a huge fan of the unfollow option.  Even more than that, I love the “Snooze for 30 days” option on Facebook.

There are certain people that I have no problem unfriending or unfollowing.  But there are a few people that I do love and care about, but their posts are just too much right now.  I have one friend that I agree with everything that she posts but the amount of posts she posts per day is a bit aggressive.  Because of this I love snoozing them for 30 days.

It gives me a break from it but also in a month they will pop back up and I can give them another chance.

Consider why you follow people

There are plenty of instagram influencers that I follow that do nothing for me.  Some even hurt my self esteem.  There are plenty of women out there toting their weight loss products trying to make a buck.  These are the women who post the flawless, well lit, sometimes touched up photos of their bikini bod while I sit on my couch with a glass of wine and my second bag of popcorn.

Follow influencers that are going to help you, not make you feel ashamed.  It is okay to have a day that you eat more than you need to, as long as you’re not doing it every day.  There are some great influencers out there that will give you realistic tips, show you the gorgeous photos, but also the no-makeup selfies, and help you realize that we’re not all that different.

I went through my instagram friend list and just unfollowed everyone that wasn’t helping build me up.

Set Timers

If you are the type of person that gets sucked into an app (hello Tik Tok) and spends way more time there than you planned, set a timer.

Allow yourself a set amount of time to scroll mindlessly, but once that timer goes off, you put the phone down and go do something.

If you are checking it too many times per day, the iPhone has an app where you can lock yourself out of certain apps after certain amounts of screen time that you pre-determine.

You can also use this if there is a certain game that is sucking you in.

 

Don’t get me wrong, social media isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  We just need to acknowledge what it is doing to us.  I was very honest in this post because I want everyone to realize that they’re not alone in their feelings and insecurities.

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