Healthy Social Media Boundaries
Creating healthy boundaries for social media can transform your relationship with your social media!
My clients often complain that they feel drained by social media feels with the expectation of being available 24 x 7. I get it and I’ve felt this way too. That’s why it is important to have healthy boundaries for your social media.
Life is more enjoyable when we can set and maintain boundaries in all areas of our life, so why not in social media?!
My business is largely concerned with social media - managing my clients social media, training business owners to use social media in an aligned way for their business, and managing my own social media. This means that I MUST create my own boundaries to maintain a healthy equilibrium. Boundaries create freedom and in this case, JOY!
Here are some boundaries that I recommend, but you can choose those that work for you!
SOCIAL MEDIA OPEN HOURS - Limiting your social media until after you’ve had time in the morning to prioritize your day, have coffee, meditate/pray, or journal. It’s important to set up your day for success before becoming distracted by social media.
Creating a rule like - I’m on social media AFTER my morning routine and have completed whatever is most important for the day. When you schedule posts in advance, they magically publish without any additional anxiety or stress first thing in the morning!
SCHEDULE TIME IN YOUR CALENDAR FOR SOCIAL MEDIA - I’m most productive on social media in small blocks of time - 30 minutes max. That’s when I will dedicate time to writing and scheduling posts for the week or the next day.
TIME FOR ENGAGEMENT - Plan to “pop-on” for a few minutes daily or every few days based on your posting frequency to check on your posts and respond to comments and engage with other business accounts. This is super important and it doesn’t require lots of time. The goal is to limit your time, so you don’t get sucked into a black hole!
SOCIAL MEDIA CLOSING TIME - For me, I try to shut off my social media time by 8 pm so I can focus on my evening wind-down routine. When I ignore my own boundaries, I find myself getting irritable as I scroll. That tells me it’s time to exit social media.
WEEKEND TIME OUTS! This can be harder, if you are really connected, or feel like you SHOULD be. If you are a coach or consultant you can likely be unplugged for part of the weekend. I try to unplug on Sundays so I can be free from digital communications and do things that feed my soul.
Recently I attended a Quiet Day Retreat at my church and they first thing they did as we arrived was to ask us to surrender our watches and phones. I didn’t realize how often I check my phone - after 2 hours I felt like I’d been on vacation for a few days! It was remarkable.
PERMISSION TO BE PRESENT AND NOT LIVING ON SOCIAL MEDIA - I’m an introvert and social media drains me. I constantly have to balance experiencing something or documenting it to share on social media. When I am enjoying myself and being present, I forget to take photos or videos for social media. And when I am focusing on taking photos or videos, it keeps me from being present. Neither is good or bad, but being aware of this tendency helps to be set a clear intention for the time.
If you find yourself being frustrated with social media, I invite you to create and set your own boundaries around your social media. You might be surprised how such a small thing yields a surplus of PEACE, JOY, and FUN.
Let me know what works for you - I’ll be cheering for you!
