We live in a world where all we see is people sharing the best bits of their lives on social media, it can be an easy place to begin to compare yourself to how other people are living their life. In all honesty though, you don’t know what is really happening behind closed doors.
At the beginning of 2019, I found myself getting really anxious when it came to social media. Even as a mental health advocate, who teaches a community of women about mental health, being the best version of ourselves and showing up as myself. I still have to work on myself daily, like any other person.
I was always checking my followers on Instagram and Facebook, how many likes my pictures had generated on Instagram or shock horror had people even unfollowed me. It was getting silly and thankfully I was very aware at what was happening. In February 2019, I deleted my social media apps including Facebook messenger.
It was hard going cold turkey to begin with. What I quickly realised was the joy that came in the eye of the storm. I feel like a new woman! I had given myself the gift of time!
Not only my time – from checking the bloody phone every few minutes, but the quality moments with my children. The conversations over the dinner table, which we now also removed TV & tablets from. My whole life and the quality of it has turned around, and the anxious feelings, well, they have completely gone too.
What is social media anxiety?
Social media anxiety can be defined in a few different ways. If you ever feel yourself comparing yourself to others on Instagram or Facebook, and if this makes you feel like you need to under go a change in your life in a negative way this is a good sign that you could be suffering with social media anxiety.
You could find yourself becoming anxious when you don’t check social and think that you need to check it all of the time, leaving you with a feeling anxiousness at the thought of not checking your phone.
Here are 3 tips to help you reduce the addiction and live in a more mindful way;
- Turn off all notifications. You can start by turning off all of your notifications. This will hugely help because your phone won’t always be pinging at you all the time. Your mind will feel free and more at peace immediately.
- Reduce your screen time. I know It’s easier said than done, but this is important. It can be a challenge, to begin with, but it is so worth it. Leaving your phone in a separate room can help you with this.
- Remove your social media apps from your phone. If you were to remove your social media apps from your phone and just check social on your desktop you would minimise your screen time hugely. Consider it, if you do not have direct access it is harder for you to just look at all the time. A great way to fill the gap is to add more educational apps onto your phone instead. That way if you do still look at your phone as it’s a habit, you either have nothing to look at, or you can tap into something that is actually going to support you to grow as a person and develop yourself.
If you would like some more tips on how to reduce your anxiety and overwhelm, you can grab a free copy of my book The Females Handbook: Step into your Personal Potential by heading to my website.
Twitter: @RebeccaLCoach
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Website: www.RebeccaLockwood.org.uk
Photography by: Photo by Rustic Vegan on Unsplash