Have you ever scrolled through your social media feed after work and stumbled across a post that turned your day upside down? Have you opened your email app and found messages from a client saying they urgently need your help?
You’re not alone! In fact, you're in the majority.
People love to take their controversies to social media, whether it be a political tweet or a post on LinkedIn bashing your industry. We need to be informed to an extent, but the gossip isn't good for us. The buzz of a new email, while you’re eating dinner, can ruin your meal, causing your mind to wander away from the people sitting in front of you to a message that may not even be that important.
While it's not a sin to go on social media or check your work email at night, we need to feel comfortable about putting our phones away sometimes (because wanting to and actually doing it are two different things).
Isn’t it frustrating how annoyed we get by these apps, but still go back wanting more? Our brains are hooked on technology and the dopamine rush we get from receiving a notification or clicking the "like" or "dislike" button. “Similar opinions have been expressed in documentaries like The Social Dilemma, where former Silicon Valley developers (the guy who invented Facebook’s “like” button, for example) remind us that social platforms are built to generate profits by manipulating human behavior.” (Montgomery Jr., 2022) To understand more about this topic, watch the aforementioned documentary, The Social Dilemma, on Netflix.
Make shutting out work and social media part of your routine.
In the morning, work without distractions like social media so you can (try to) keep your workday to the standard eight hours - and not have to bleed over into what should be personal time.
Drive home and listen to music, your favorite podcast, or an audiobook. Already work from home? Take a walk and listen.
Create moments of silence in your day. Give your brain a chance to relax and recharge away from noise or excess stimulation and you can train your brain to love peace and quiet, more than that social media dopamine hit.
Take five minutes to catch up on your personal emails and texts - and set a timer so you don’t fall into checking social feeds.
Put your phone in a drawer and walk away – yes, walk away!
Now relax! Cook yourself dinner, catch up on a TV show, or treat yourself to a face mask and hot bath.
Social media bottom-feeders - whether people, companies or media channels - often exist to cause problems online. You owe it to yourself to unplug and destress. Because contrary to the dopamine hit you're getting, it's imperative to our mental health that we spend less time on our computers and phones cultivating real-life positive experiences for ourselves.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end – now put your phone down! ;-)
Reference
Montgomery Jr., L. (2022, February 17). How is Social Media Affecting Workplace Mental Health? Forbes. Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/02/17/how-is-social-media-affecting-workplace-mental-health/?sh=4b21ce135205
