Practicing Self-Care with Social Media
Recently, I’ve been noticing just how mentally exhausting social media has been making me feel, and that’s mainly because for me, and for the majority of every other millennial, I have a really hard time disconnecting myself (although I’m now actively trying!!!). These platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram etc completely suck you in. You’re stuck in these vicious cycles of comparing yourself to others, experience FOMO because you’ve stayed in one night, or asking yourself “what did I post to make this person unfollow me?!!!!?” and it drives up anxiety, negativity, and destroys any confidence you have within yourself — whether you actively realize it or not. This is so, so incredibly unhealthy for your well-being.
Over the past two years in dealing with managing and mitigating my own mental health issues, I’ve become increasingly focused on self-improvement, working on being in a much more positive mindset, and being more productive. I notice that the more I hyperfocus on aimlessly scrolling through my feeds, the less productive I am and it’s difficult to snap out. I truly believe nothing is more important than taking care of your brain and yourself. It’s just not worth it stressing yourself over why someone hasn’t liked your post because it doesn’t matter in the end.
Now, I think social media can also be much, much less draining on your well-being. There’s just so much incredible content that can be inspiring and actually be beneficial to your productivity. Firstly, it’s important to work on yourself, your self-confidence outside of social media. When you’re in a much more positive mindset and secure with yourself, seeing pictures of someone on vacation or what have you while you’re studying or working won’t negatively derail you. It’s important to keep in mind that everything that you see isn’t really real — it’s fabricated as just highlight reels. Just because it seems like someone is incredibly happy through their posts or having fun with their friends doesn’t mean they really are apart from the posts. Everyone is struggling in one way or another and no one has their life that put together. Although it’s hard to not compare yourself to others, focus on improving and working on yourself first.
What I do for self-care and that I highly recommend for others is to use social media and the Internet to your advantage. If you don’t like what someone tweets and it enrages you everytime you scroll down your timeline, just simply mute or unfollow them. You can curate your entire online experience and feeds to be positive. I’ve focused on following individuals etc that inspire me, motivate me or simply make me laugh. I’ve also began using my social media platforms to learn more and develop skills be it in photography, design, or figuring out how to edit a video a certain way. With this and actively monitoring myself and how social media is making me feel, I’ve found myself approaching what I see online more positively, I don’t experience FOMO to the same extent as before, and it’s become much easier to disconnect myself when I notice myself starting to hyperfocus on these platforms or I’m being pulled away from work that I need to do.
Your brain, mental and emotionally well-being is so so so so so so so important. Take care of yourself, work on improving yourself and do the things (or find the things) that you truly enjoy.
A family member recently recommended me this podcast.I really enjoyed it and find it find it beneficial to add towards the topic of mental health:
