I previously wrote about the mental health pitfalls of social media and my personal experience and downfall with it all in my blog post Anti-Social Media. I have resolved many of my issues, and now I am incredibly considered and deliberate with my social media use. I wanted to share my insights into how I approach it all now.
Where am I now?
From a personal perspective I seldom use social media. I still feel anxiety at the thought of opening an app or starting a new profile of personal information. I am done with seeking external validation from strangers and find it more rewarding at the in-person activities that I host with my business instead.
That being said it’s difficult to promote well-being and not have a presence to help people through this area. As my husband says, it’s people on social media who are most likely to be overwhelmed and in need of what DPA is doing. As my mission is to help many people with their work-life and overwhelm balance, social media is a significant contributor in that arena. It made sense to have a social media presence even if it was small to offer people struggling to see alternative routes for themselves.
Business in general comes hand in hand with promoting products/services, people still need to know about what you do; that brings the marketing dilemma and an assumed potential social media strategy.
Finding a unique balance between maintaining the best working environment for my brain and creating the best results for my clients has taken some trial and error, and I am still figuring it out in this ever changing landscape. So I have decided to manage things in a new way. Here are the points for what I will be working on for my business.
How can social media be used to suit you?
1. Reduce and extinguish the social media overwhelm. Ask yourself how much time you spend on social media and what you get from it. Think about what you have not been able to work on for your business because you wasted time stressing about content development and absorbing as much content as possible.
2. Have boundaries. Have personal and professional limits in place; these can be time limitations, connecting with positive people for your business (if there is someone you dread socialising with in real life, don't connect with them).
Some tips I would recommend
a) You can delete the apps from your phone so you aren't constantly plugged in, continuously available and unable to switch off
b) Limit your interaction, leave the platforms for some months, only check updates for 30mins each day, or just a limited amount of time a week, whatever works for you
c) Have a weekend; make sure you have a couple of days a week to switch off. Time off is an excellent habit as it helps your brain heal from the week's work. You will be more productive and effective after the time away from social media
3. Be organised. One way is by creating your content in bulk and schedule your posts to go out automatically. This approach reduces the mental drain of constantly trying to create and post in small bursts and results in better quality content and more time working on other parts of the business. Think about larger projects that can be trickled out over the space of a month or for a few months.
4. Device lethargy. You can manage your exposure to devices. Limit your time on them, change the blue light settings, drink plenty of water, and get screen time glasses. I recommend listening when your body resists being in front of the monitor (sore eyes, headaches and migraines). If you need more time, where possible, take more time.
5. Don't build your business on borrowed land; Have a website where your resources and primary interaction occur. The more you have your business planted in the social media platform, the more you are at their mercy; they will remove you with one vindictive, negative report.
6. Disagree with social media companies taking your data? Request your data from these platforms to see what they are collecting on you; by law, they have to provide it, and it's pretty eye-opening. You can change your data settings and only consent to what you are comfortable. Leave the platform if you disagree with how they use your data.
7. Maintain your privacy. Make sure you are using the privacy setting on each platform. Disclose minimal information to a circle of people that you trust. Each application will have different ways to reduce the amount of information you share. YouTube has some excellent guides to manage your settings in a way that will work best for you (you can also view these without logging in).
8. Reduce peer pressure/obligation. You have a choice: don't allow it to be made for you. In these cases, resentment builds toward the situation quite quickly. Avoid the peer pressure of being told you should be doing something. These are the worst reasons to decide on your own business. By all means, get as much information as to "why" you should be doing something and undertake your research. Make up your mind about what you think will work best for your business in this ever-changing landscape, and don't be shamed into using applications you don't want to.
9. Change your perspective on what Social Media is. Think about social media as a business tool, not as "social" media. Thinking about the applications as a social platform can become all-consuming; there is social pressure that you have to consider. Shifting to a different mindset and having healthy business boundaries, because it is just a business tool, helps you manage the expectation of replying to people and engaging with them after business hours. It also frees you up to post about more relevant topics to drive your business towards its goal.
What is Your Self-Sustainable Strategic Aim?
Too many businesses are just looking busy posting for its sake, destroying any efficacy of the promotion or genuine connection and interaction, adding to the social media wall of white noise and stress on yourself to manage it all.
Ask yourself
What do you want to get out of using social media?
How is your business helping people?
Is what you are posting practical for your audience?
Think about where is your target market is?
Remember to ask what you need to BE YOU on social media to build your authentic, supportive audience? What do you love to do?
Choose a social media platform that is
more natural for you,
fun and helpful for your audience,
and then let the passion will shine through your content.
After being able to back off the social media platforms, I've been able to think about the enjoyment I got from being creative and sharing that on social media. The more you identify what is enjoyable to you and beneficial to your audience, the more likely you are to enjoy the process. This approach means you are more likely to keep doing it. It creates more robust material and will have a more profound impact on your audience.
What do you enjoy about social media? How happy the platforms make you? What is the main benefit of you staying on the platforms you choose?
For instance, all available applications work differently, do your research, and consider which will suit you best.
The key is to know what you need for yourself and how best for YOU to manage everything; this is about being authentic to yourself, questioning what you do and why and how you can best convey your authentic self to your audience in a self-sustainable way.
Remember to ask yourself…
How valuable social media is for you and how do you want to use it?
Concentrate on providing value for your clients - what does that look like? Information, brand insight, entertainment, tips and tricks, what are you bringing to the plate that will keep your audience engaged?
What platform is the best? Do your clients, partners, or essential people use platforms in a way that is helpful to you? Or is there a lack of engagement, or maybe your target market isn't found there?
Do I even need social media? You may not even need the hindrance of social media if this is not a driver for you. Use word of mouth, in-person events, sponsorships, partnerships and guerrilla marketing to promote yourself and your projects as much as possible with existing clients and people who believe in your product/services.
How can I use social media smarter not harder? Think outside the box, be creative with your thinking and be collaborative with your approaches. Magic happens when you find real people to do real work with and make real changes, think about who you can collaborate with and on what, to make your presence greater than what it is.
I have written this post to give you an honest account of my experience and help you figure things out for yourself. You can manage difficulties that you may not have considered before and get control over your business and personal life. Invest in decisions today that can greatly impact your future for the better.
Growing Forwards.
If this resonated with you, know you're not alone. Finding a healthier way to show up online and in real life is possible.
I'm continuing to explore how we can lead and connect more authentically, with boundaries that honour well-being and creativity.
Curious about how this aligns with your own business or leadership journey?
Explore the Thrive programme for practical support in creating sustainable, human-centred ways of working.
Written by Donna Preece www.thedpa.uk
Edited by Simon Bell www.qedtext.co.uk
Simon is a writer, translator, editor and educational consultant with many years of experience in university teaching and book publishing. His background is in languages and literature, and he is a firm believer in the healing powers of a well-constructed sentence.
