5 Ways To Balance Life & Social Media

Millions of people use social media on a daily basis. There are a lot of advantages to social media. Social media can platform your business, help you to keep up with friends and family and even give support during challenging times. But with those advantages, come disadvantages. Just as with most things in life, you need to balance the pros with the cons.

Balancing the pros and cons, like we do with food. Let’s think about something yummy. Cake. Good thought, right? Cake is one of those tasty and awesome things in life. But if you over indulge, it can do harm to your body. You don’t have to completely rid of cake, you just need to eat it in moderation. Same goes with social media. Moderation is key.

Here are 5 ways you can better balance life and social media:

Don’t Compare
We have all done it. We look at all the amazing pictures of people on social media and wonder, what are they doing that I am not? You see a picture of a couple and their child in the Bahamas, smiling with Palm trees in the background. Meanwhile, you are stuck in the office working for a boss you hate. In some fashion, we all have felt that feeling for a moment. But, what is important to realize is that what you are seeing is just a moment in time on social media for that person. This is called the demo reel or highlight reel. You are seeing a bunch of the best clips of people’s lives. What is dangerous about this highlight reel is that you are comparing a bunch of people’s best moments to your entire life. This can decrease confidence and be very discouraging. It can be so discouraging that you may get off track on your own goals and not even have the confidence to set goals to begin with.

The Fix
When you are scrolling through social media, get real. Understand that every single, and yes, I mean every single, person that you are viewing has faced trials and tribulations. They have all been discouraged, faced fears and got off their path at on point or another. That’s because we are all on the same journey of life. There are ups and downs. Cut the ruminating during and after your time on social media and accept that you saw a moment in time for someone, and recognize you can’t realistically compare their one moment in time to your entire life.

Limit Your Time
Some people spend hours a day on social media. Can you imagine if you got back hours per day? Imagine the goals you could achieve. Not everyone spends hours per day on social media, but many of us spend more time than we think we do. Five minutes in the morning, 15 minutes at lunch and 20 minutes at night; that adds up. What if you took 30 of those 40 minutes back? Could you get that run in? Could you read a chapter in a book? What are your 2021 goals? Would an extra 210 minutes a week help you work toward that goal? By limiting your social media time you increase the ability to get some time back in your day to help you achieve bigger goals.

The Fix
Start by becoming more aware of your social media time. Take the next two or three days to be honest and track how many minutes you spend on social media. Then, cut that time in half and take the time you get back to do something healthy for your mind or body. You may begin to feel more productive and happy. If you feel you can’t get away from social media because you need to make posts for your business, then take time to look into programs where you enter in your social media for the week or month and it automatically releases it for you each day. This will keep you off social media, where you may blend doing business with checking your personal profile.

Avoid Distractions
Social media can be such a distraction. While in the middle of a project or assignment you get a pop up on your phone that says “John Doe just followed you.” You either are distracted by wondering who John Doe is, or you quickly check Twitter to see who John Doe is, how many followers he has, and if you should follow him back. This two minute distraction soon becomes 20 as you look at John’s Page, thank him for following you and then scroll through Twitter. You soon remember to check your Facebook, Instagram and your newest platform, TikTok.

The Fix
When you are working on a project or assignment, be sure all social media tabs on your computer are closed. Do not enable push notifications on your phone for social media. This way, you are not alerted when someone follows you, likes a post, etc. Research shows it takes 15 minutes to get into flow (or the zone). When you are interrupted, it takes that much time to get back into the zone. Don’t’ waste your time, avoid distractions and use social media as a reward for getting work done.

Don’t Worry About Being “Liked”
Some people use “likes” on social media as way to boost confidence and get approval. While it is okay to want people to like your posts, be sure of two things: First, that you do not post out content and then hover over your social media to see every single like that comes in. That is a waste of your precious time and energy. Second, that you are not posting a picture or content to feel personally validated. Be sure that you are happy and approved with yourself, don’t give that control out to others.

Dr. Jaime Kulaga is The Bay Area’s Life Coach! She is a licensed mental health counselor, entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker, wife and mother.

Dr. Jaime empowers people to overcome barriers, discover their own greatness, and in turn, achieve success. She educates, guides and holds accountable, women, men, adolescents and families to make better lifestyle decisions and provides practical tools for overall health and success.

Dr. Jaime is the International Author of The SuperWoman’s Guide to Super Fulfillment: Step by Step Strategies to Create Work-Life Balance. Her book was named one of the best work life balance books of all time according to Book Authority. The SuperWoman’s Guide to Super Fulfillment has been translated and published in over 15 countries over 4 continents.

When it comes to balance and happiness, Dr. Jaime is the go-to motivational speaker for companies. With her engaging personality and sense of humor, audiences are inspired to use the content in order to enhance their personal and professional lives.

Dr. Jaime is a frequent mental health expert on national TV and radio. She was featured as the lead interviewer on CNBC’s The Job Interview, as well as the spokeswoman for Wendy’s, British Airways and LaLa Yogurt Smoothies.

Dr. Jaime Kulaga
www.drjaimek.com