If there was a diagnosis for social media burnout, the prescription would have to be getting rid of every social media app and blocking those websites. However, for people who need to use social media for their business or job, that just can’t happen. As a business owner, social media can be super stressful and not fun. As a marketer, it is our specialty to make sure we can help to take that pressure off of your shoulders and get you back to the parts of your business that you do think are fun. If you aren’t ready to delegate social media tasks to a marketing agency, we completely understand. So instead, here are 3 tips from a professional marketing team who specializes in social media to help prevent burn out and to keep social media fun!

Signs of Social Media Burnout

Social media burnout is a real phenomenon that can affect anyone who spends a lot of time on social media platforms. Some signs that you may be experiencing social media burnout include: 

• Feeling anxious or stressed when you are not able to access social media
• Feeling overwhelmed or exhausted from the constant stream of information
• Experiencing a decrease in productivity or creativity
• Feeling like you are not able to keep up with the demands of social media
• Decreased engagement with friends and family
• Feeling negative or cynical about social media
• Experiencing physical symptoms like headaches or eye strain. 

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it may be time to take a break from social media or to reevaluate your relationship with it. Here are some ways to detox from social media.

Set Boundaries

Setting social media boundaries and goals can help to increase productivity in other areas of your life rather than social media. The first thing you can do is to set a realistic goal of how you’d like to decrease your time spent on social media. Whether you want to decrease it by hours, days or weeks, set a goal that you can track and achieve. During the workday, block out time in your calendar to focus on the most important work tasks and do not go on social media at this time. If possible, shut off your phone during those times or at least put it on Do Not Disturb or silent. Make sure your notifications are off for all apps and your email is silenced during this time. Set times for when you feel it is appropriate to scroll through social media. If social media is a task that you need to accomplish for work, but you find yourself getting distracted by it while trying to do work, set a timer for how long you think it should take you to complete the tasks at hand. If your timer goes off before the task is completed, this is a sign that you got distracted and you need to try again.

Allow for Downtime

Social media doesn’t need to happen everyday at a specific time. It is 100% fine if you do not post everyday. In fact, it is just unnecessary. If you are starting to feel burned out, allow for downtime with your social media. Tell your friends and family that you are going to take a break. If social media is a part of your job, and you haven’t tried a scheduling tool, give that a try. Schedule out maybe two weeks worth of posts and then step away. Recharge. Once the two weeks have passed, see if you feel better. You might be surprised how much, or rather how little, you miss out on when you are offline.

Ask for Help

If the task of social media is not your forte of your business, ask for help! This might be the perfect time to seek out a marketing agency to delegate this task to. Once the agency learns how you prefer your social media to be run, they can just take the ball and literally run with it! The level of involvement really depends on you!

The Bottom Line

There is not a one-size-fits-all way to prevent or help with social media burnout. Taking a break from social media can be a great way to reduce stress, increase productivity, and improve overall well-being. If you are a business owner and don’t love social media, please reach out to us and let’s have a discussion as it can be a very valuable tool that we would hate for you to be missing out on.