Establishing Boundaries Between You and Your Creative Business
Social media is awesome but it can also be addictive if you’re not careful about it. You can’t escape from social media. It is both a marketing tool for business and an integral source of everyday media consumption. Unfortunately, it also has the tendency to advertise the glamorous and mislead us into thinking that everyone else has it better than us. So like many things that can gain a hold on you, setting boundaries can prevent you from overconsumption and allowing negativity to seep in.
Set a time limit on social media apps
If you use an iPhone, you can set App Limits and Downtime. Go to Settings -> Screen Time -> App Limits -> Add Limit to choose your apps. (Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Tik Tok) -> Set a time limit on the app.
I use a default setting of 30 minutes a day. If I exceed that amount because I spent it all on work rather than any actual viewing, I just extend the limit by 15 minutes as and when I need to publish a post. A time limit keeps my use focused and productive, spending that time only to check out accounts that are important and to reply to messages.
Keep work email off your phone
I can only access my work email on my computer and iPad. That way, I don’t feel an urge to check my work emails during downtime.
Make social media purges a routine
Go through the list of accounts you are following and unfollow them if their content no longer resonates with you. Remember, your social media feed is literally social media FEEDING you content. You need to take control of what you’re being fed rather than let the almighty algorithm decide for you. If unfollowing them creates an awkward situation, especially if you know them personally, then mute their Stories and Posts. It offers the best compromise between unfollowing and not viewing their content.
Turn off notifications
Granted, it does make me a little harder to reach. But switching off notifications means that I can spend hours at work without being distracted every fifteen minutes. It is also worth noting that getting pulled off-task doesn’t just make you lose the time you spent addressing the distraction, it also takes your mind time to regain focus and return to your previous levels of productivity.
Leave your phone in another room
Sometimes the best boundary is a physical one. When I’m separated from my phone by walls, I’m less tempted to reach out for a bit of mindless scrolling during work or while I’m winding down before sleep.
Have a social media break on the weekend
I’m working toward making Sunday a day with drastically reduced social media time. This means I can be more mentally and emotionally present for everything in life that isn’t work. While this might seem a little draconian, I want social media to be a tool for my purposes rather than something that interferes with my thoughts and feelings.
Ultimately, I think we all need to remember that social media is neither good nor bad. It is simply information. But we do need to be careful in ensuring that our inner world remains under our control and not to surrender it to bright lights on a little screen.
