How to take a break from Social Networks without deleting your accounts – Social BlaBla

If you’re in digital marketing, it’s hard to imagine a day without social media, even before you get to your desk.

Think about it. We wake up and immediately check our social media accounts before we even get out of bed, read headlines and trending topics on the way to work, and tweet our latest blog posts before we get to the office.

We schedule posts for the week in advance, record a Facebook Live interview, and report on our engagement analytics, all while analyzing the comments and direct messages we receive on Twitter and Facebook. We post artsy photos of our cup of coffee on Instagram, record a Snapchat Story on the way to work, and at the end of the day, we sit down to check out the latest news on our personal accounts while we eat dinner or watch TV.

Does it look familiar to you? The average user spends at least two hours a day on social media, and we can assume that digital marketers spend even more time. This raises an important question: is there a good time to take a break from social media?

We know it’s your job, and we won’t ask you to abandon your brand’s social media content calendar. In fact, you shouldn’t. However, some of our readers may be thinking about taking a break from their profiles as part of their new strategies. We’ll discuss why you should take a break and how to limit your social media relationships for more balance. healthy.

Excessive activity on social networks can affect your health
Various studies have shown that social networks take up 30% of all our time online, and 80% of this time on networks takes place on mobile devices. Let’s look at how spending too much time on social media can start to affect your health.

Disrupt your hours of sleep
Excessive exposure to screens can negatively affect the quality and length of your sleep, especially before bed. More specifically, exposure to short-wave blue light emitted by tablets, computers, phones, LED lights, and the sun before going to bed can reduce the rapid eye movement (or REM) stage of sleep, decrease morning alertness and increase the time it takes to fall asleep. In the long term, these effects can lead to insomnia and chronic sleep deficiency, which can increase the risk of ongoing health problems and some types of cancer.

Taking a break from social media reduces the time we spend in front of mobile device screens, which could alleviate the symptoms and health conditions we mentioned above.

Affects your mental and emotional well-being
A break from social media can also improve your mental health. SELF magazine asked experts if there were any health benefits to stopping using social media. Their responses were varied, but many agreed that excessive social media use is sometimes associated with loneliness, social anxiety, mood disorders, and depression.

A study from the University of Houston associated excessive social media use with depression as a result of social comparison: that feeling you get when you see what your friends are doing and immediately compare yourself to them. Apparently, feeling jealous over a former classmate’s job promotion or wedding can negatively affect your mood.

Produces a phenomenon known as FOMO
The phenomenon known as FOMO (fear of missing out) can be exacerbated if you spend a lot of time watching what others are doing on social media. However, a break from networking may force you to turn to other means of communicating with friends, such as talking on the phone or meeting in person, which can be more rewarding.

Research shows that some Facebook users feel that their friends have happier and more fulfilling lives than them, but we must keep in mind that people share on social networks only what they want others to see. Photos and statuses of your friends dressed in fancy clothes and attending a fun event are not indicators that their lives are better than yours. It’s important to keep perspective when browsing the web, and if curated and edited content affects your feelings in real life, it may be time to take a break.

Our advice? Evaluate your relationship with digital social networks. If you’re comfortable with the time and energy you spend on your personal social media accounts, then that’s fine, but if you’re staying up late watching the latest news or plagued by FOMO, taking a break can be beneficial. You can also download time tracking software to get an idea of ​​how much time you spend on each site.

How to take a break from social media without deleting your accounts
If you think it would be good for you to take a break from your personal social networks, here are some tips:

1) Designate technology-free hours
If you feel overwhelmed by excessive exposure to social media or the Internet in general, designate a few times to disconnect completely. It could be a few hours before you go to sleep or perhaps during the morning when you don’t need to use the Internet; and when you do, analyze how you feel during that time and after. Are you less stressed?

A study from the University of Maryland (USA) found that students who disconnect from all types of technology for just one day achieve greater concentration and a better quality of life. Dr. John Swartzberg warns that just unplugging is not the secret to happiness. The key is to replace time spent on social media and technology with other beneficial activities.

Swartzberg explains that “simply disconnecting will not change your life, but spending time free from digital applications to cultivate your relationships and practice activities that you enjoy could improve your quality of life.”

2) Limit time on social media
In addition to times when you don’t use technology, try to limit the time you use personal social networks.

If you need help sticking to those limits, you can use a productivity tool like StayFocusd to restrict the time you spend on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. However, before setting limits, make sure the goal is realistic. Over the course of a typical workday, keep a written record of all the times you check social media, and whether you do so for work or personal reasons. You may be using them more than you think, so be sure to set limits that are achievable.

3) Prioritize other hobbies, activities and passions
In an article for ThinkGrowth.org, Dr. Nicole Lipkin suggests we stop basing our New Year’s resolutions on the desire to kick a vice. On the contrary, she claims that resolutions work best when they are expressed in terms of what we want to achieve. What activities or hobbies could you engage in if you had the time you spend on social media?

Instead of framing it as a break from social media, you’re more likely to stick to a resolution if you work toward something you want rather than away from something. Some hobbies even encourage cognition and memory. Try reading, learning a new language, or adopting an exercise routine to replace the time you would normally spend on social media so your detox is more productive.

4) Disable mobile device notifications
Because most people use social media on their mobile devices, one way to avoid checking the latest news over and over again is to turn off notifications. If you don’t constantly receive notifications about what’s happening online, you may not feel the need to check your phone as often. In your phone settings, choose how you’ll receive social media notifications so you can take a break (at least indirectly).

How to turn off mobile app notifications on iPhone:
In the Settings menu, go to Notifications, select the social media app from the menu, and slide the button to the left to turn off mobile notifications.

How to disable mobile app notifications on Android:
Navigate to the menu Settings > Notifications. There, locate the social media app and slide the lock button to the left to disable mobile notifications.

If you’re ready to unplug, we’ll be waiting for you with information about the latest news on social media when you return; And if this article wasn’t enough for you and you want to delve deeper into the topic, listen to these podcasts full of ideas to take your social media strategy to the next level.

Via: Hubspot