Managing Social Media in a Healthy Way
Social Media has become a huge part of our lives, whether through reels or in real. Often we don’t realise just how much time we spend scrolling through our feed. It has become a routine to check our social media before starting our day and ending our day.
But is it necessary to be addicted to it all the time or should we manage our time better?
The usage of Social Media has been affecting many people in various ways both in positive and negative ways.
A general study and collective resources in the Journal of mental health have pointed to the adverse effects of using too much social media some of which are the increased development of mental illnesses and not being active in the day to day conversations. Here are a few tricks to manage social media usage healthily.
Schedule a time for social media usage: The most effective way is to establish a balance between the time needed and time diverted on internet usage. You can set a time to surf and scroll on social media and spend time with friends and family, for a healthy way to reduce wastage of time. Also, be particular to avoid checking notifications before and after bed, which will help your sleep schedule.
Look for inspiration rather than comparison: It's natural to compare other people’s life with ours and be sad about not having a picture-perfect life. Here’s a gentle reminder that these moments are not representing the whole life of someone. And behind the picture, there may be a whole different story. You can look at those pictures and set a goal to achieve, to look forward to the future.
Be careful about the following: Just like looking for inspiration, you need to be selective about who you follow. If someone’s posts constantly make you feel bad or compare yourself with them or frustrated; consider unfollowing/ unfriending them and making the feed healthy.
Use social media with a purpose: One of the pros of handling social media with goals is that you can be creative and start an inspirational page, build up a business or even collect funds for needed purposes!
Always keep your mental health in check: Too much usage of social media impacts mental health and causes one to be depressed and not delighted in being part of social activities, being restless all the time. Be in check with a friend or peer or a family member if you think that you are being anxious or nervous or sad before it’s late.
Take a needed break: A temporary break, like deleting all social media accounts can be useful, as you would understand how necessary or unnecessary social media might be for you. Exercising, meditating or playing with pets or going for a short vacation can be very useful. Just like unplugging from scrolling and sharing.
Lastly, be social media active but also physically available in your real-life circles!
Posting, liking, commenting, sharing and knowing new virtual friends is great, but being addicted to it may have a bad impact on you. The more extra time you spend is more hazardous on your health; physically or mentally. Which is why it’s always good to moderate your social media usage!