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Rebekah Radice

Online, Digital, Social Media Marketing

Smart Ways to Beat Social Media Burnout
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Smart Ways to Beat Social Media Burnout

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Social media burnout.

We all suffer from it.

Overwhelm, frustration, anxiety.

It’s the constant need to stay involved, connected and interactive.

But is it sustainable, and more than that, is it realistic?

The answer? No.

At some point, it’s important to realize that enough is enough.

That your good is good enough.

That you gave enough, interacted enough and shared enough throughout the day.

However, if you’re seeking to grow an audience, stepping away isn’t always an option.

So, how do you beat social media burnout? You find balance.

Below are six ways to handle the firehose of content coming at you and stop social media burnout once and for all.

Steps to Beat Social Media Burnout

 1. Stop Multitasking

Did you know that only 2 percent of people can successfully multitask? The other 98 percent are, according to research done by Clifford Nass,

“less able to multitask than the rest of us because they can’t help but think about what they aren’t doing!”

For years I believed I could juggle multiple things at once, seamlessly moving from client calls to strategy sessions without missing a beat.

But times have changed.

With the birth of social media, the pace has accelerated at lightening speed.

Be willing to adjust and adapt. Ensure that top priorities receive your full and undivided attention.

When you feel the urge to multi-task, stop and take action:

  1. Write down each task you must complete
  2. Now prioritize each task
  3. Remove all distractions – shut down the Internet, turn off your phone, close your office door
  4. Work through one task at a time
  5. Celebrate your success
via onlinecollege.org

 2. Turn Off Notifications

With an incessant barrage of social media notifications, pings, and campaigns, walking away from social media can feel impossible.

But it’s not.

And even more than that, it’s a must.

The quickest and easiest way to regain control over your day is to manage your notifications.

From Facebook to Instagram, turn off your mobile notifications, any sounds, pop-ups or email alerts. They do nothing but create distraction.

This is where numbers three and four will come in. Get ready to set boundaries and plan ahead!

 3. Set Boundaries

Nothing creates social media burnout faster than a Smartphone that never leaves your side.

Set boundaries around when and how you will use social media.

Determine how often you’ll check each social network and then track your time using free tools such as FocusBooster.

FocusBooster is an app based on the Pomodoro Technique, a time management system designed to instantly improve productivity.

How it works with social media:
  1. Choose the social networks you will visit
  2. Determine what your goals are for each network and have content ready to share
  3. Set the timer for 25 minutes
  4. Focus on your task (s) for 25 minutes and then shut your social networks down
  5. Give yourself a 5-minute break
  6. Move on to your next money-making activity

 4. Plan Ahead

From third-party management tools to an editorial calendar, planning ahead can cut down on that frantic “gotta find something to post” feeling.

My go-to management platform is Sprout Social.  With Sprout, you can manage content, interact and engage with fans or followers in a thoughtful and strategic way.

As you come across content you want to share, add it and schedule it to post.

This frees up your time to interact instead of hunting for content.

Simplify even further by using Chrome extensions to quickly grab a post and either schedule or share it immediately.

 

 5. Recognize When Your Passion Turns Toxic

A healthy mix of productivity, constructive conversation, and meaningful interaction is the key to a successful social media presence.

Unfortunately, many get caught up in the conversation and don’t know when to call it a day.

While social media can be fun, and lets face it — downright addictive — it’s important to recognize when your passion for social media turns into a toxic invasion of a healthy lifestyle.

Signs you’re addicted to social media:

via Daniel Newman ?

  • You use hashtags in your email
  • You create a social media account for your pet
  • You update your status update (before anyone else comments)
  • You share EVERYTHING
  • You ‘LIKE’ your own post

 6. Walk Away

Did you know that 61% of Facebook users admit to taking a “vacation” from the social network for two weeks or more according to a Pew study?

The cause is simple. Social media burnout.

With the enormous amount of time now spent online, taking a break is necessary to maintaining your sanity.

study via Morrison Foerster

 

Walk away from the computer and allow yourself to shut out the social media noise.

There’s no reason to tweet, post or comment 24/7.  It will only serve to distract you and keep you from enjoying other important aspects of your life.

Believe me when I say, there are effective ways to manage social media and you need to find them.

You deserve a life outside of social media!

How do you beat social media burnout? I’d love to hear your top tip!


Full disclosure: Links on this page may be affiliate links which means that if you decide to buy, I will earn a commission. 3 things you need to know: I only recommend products I use within my own business, am extremely happy with, and can confidently promote.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rebekah Great tips to follow…. I especially like the turn of the notification advice. I think when I’m in the mist of getting it done, that is one of my biggest distraction. I will surely take that to heart. Thanks for the information.

    Reply

  3. Hi Rebekah,

    Thanks for writing this awesome post with beneficial tips to take over social media burnout. I never experienced it as I used to work with care, give regular break and using to do list to stay active over there.

    Moreover, I am familiar with the impacts of multitasking and thus I never do it. Turning off notification seems an useful tip to avoid social media burnout, will try to follow to perform better in social networks.

    Reply

  4. Thanks for sharing these extremely useful tips and tools to avoid social media burnout. I use social media mostly for business purposes, so the idea of prioritizing tasks, planning ahead, and having an editorial calendar I found useful.

    Reply

  5. Your tip about multitasking is right on. It is so easy to get off track because something comes up and you just want to get it done real quick but it interrupts what you were working on and in the end everything takes a little longer than it should have because you’ve been thrown off. A prioritized list is an excellent suggestion. Of course there needs to be flexibility when important matters arise but when you’ve correctly prioritized those unexpected things are a lot easier to handle.

    Reply

  6. Rebekah,

    I must say this was a perfect blog post as I felt the effects of social media burnout beginning to creep in. I usually will have my clients follow create and follow their editorial calendar and try not to fray from it. Editorial calendars work wonders. Takes a while to get just right but they are another great tool to alleviate the “burn out”.

    Thanks for an awesome post Rebekah!
    Michael Sgambati

    Reply

    • I so agree on the editorial calendar Michael! It’s the only way to stay focused, on track and consistent. Without mine, I’d probably run into burnout a whole lot more often!

      Reply

  7. These are great tips! Lately, I’ve been setting the timer on my phone and having a plan for social media time before I start. I’m intrigued by the Focus Booster app and will have to check that out. Thank you!

    Reply

  8. Rebekah

    I truly enjoy finding a good blog post, then sharing it. But, what deflates this excitement and sometimes causes social media fatigue is when there is no engagement.

    To me, getting engagement is the most difficult part of social media.

    Thanks for this post and for others that regularly provide insightful advice.

    When are you going to write a book?

    Reply

    • Engagement definitely keeps us motivated. It’s nice to know that people appreciate what we’re doing and putting out there.

      Funny that you bring up the book. I’m working on it now! 🙂

      Reply

  9. Multitasking – I usually open my RSS feedreader then share articles on social media and forums. Twitter mostly. I don’t like auto posting so I devote an hour or so to doing this. Tried HootSuite and it was a disaster.

    Notifications – I just have email notifications set up so I am not interupted constantly with updates people are doing.

    “You create a social media account for your pet” – I resemble that remark! She didn’t tweet much but it was way easier to get followers and converse than any of the other social networking accounts I manage. Pets are very social! (wink)

    Even with me limiting social networking to a couple hours a day it is hard not to get burnt out.

    Reply

    • It sounds like you’ve got a great handle on your social media. Knowing how to control the flow of information is so important. Without it, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed in a very short amount of time.

      Reply

  11. Hi Rebekah,

    Good post. I’m still trying to learn /control my social media time. I either forget to set the timer or think, I can get just one more posted or answered. I am doing better though. I have the focus booster too.

    Reply

    • That’s funny Monna! My family tells me I’m always saying…”I need to do just one more thing.” That’s why I have to set boundaries. Otherwise, that “one more thing” turns into ten or twenty things.

      Reply

  12. I avoid burnout by pacing myself on social media. Like you mentioned with that one app, time yourself on social media. If you physically feel like you have been on it for too long, then you HAVE BEEN ON IT TOO LONG. Pacing yourself is a great option.

    Reply

  13. I can always tell when I am spending too much time on the computer when my daughter starts acting like she is attention starved. Taking a break from all electronic media from time to time saves me a headache and an argument. It is very easy to let it overwhelm you.

    Reply

  14. Terrific advice Rebekah! You are so right about burnout being a real threat. I’ve learned to take time outs and become better at focusing my time where it counts, but one of my BHAG for this year is to hire a virtual assistant. Ironically the hard part isn’t the actual hiring, it’s getting myself to the point of letting go. But I am planning an extended mainland trip later this year and there are only 2 choices – let go and give myself the break I need and have worked so hard for, or try to do it all and … well, no need to paint a picture there. Thanks for the tips!

    Reply

    • I just wrote an article after an interview about hiring virtual assistants. You definitely need to check that BHAG off of your list this year Marquita so you can take that trip and not think about anything but enjoying yourself!

      Reply

  15. Hi Rebekah,

    I am the rare bird. I have never experienced social media burnout because I am not online often and my smartphone is turned off more than it is turned on (never access social media via my smartphone anyway). I usually use Hootsuite to schedule three to four posts on weekdays. I spend approximately 15 minutes a day (Mon thru Thu) to find someone to interact with.

    Although I would love to make my audience larger, I simply do not like social media. I think I dislike it for three reasons: I am an introvert and do not value small talk, I prefer face-to-face or telephone conversations, and just do not see it as a good use of my time.

    I, too, once thought of myself as a great multitasker; however, I have since learned that it is better to focus on one task at a time. I must admit though that I always multitask during webinars and teleconferences–just too difficult to resist.

    Reply

  16. Well written post. I think we all suffer from this “disease” at some point. I can sometimes feel that it would be a sense of freedom to let go for some time and just go offline… But here are some great advices:)

    Reply

  17. Just reading this post gets my adrenalin going.. I can’t image in how some people do it!! I have a hard tim keeping up with 2 social media venus!! Thanks for the stats of info though this is good to know.. I always thought I was a little crazy when multi tasking was getting out of hand for me and i’d just keep to one task at a time!!

    Reply

  18. When something needs doing, I turn off all the notifications, email, Facebook and anything that has any kind of beep or pop-up. I find I get more done in a distraction free environment. Love the multi-tasking statistic, and how that flies in the face of what people believe.

    Reply

  19. Hi Rebekah!

    Thanks for writing this. I ‘came out’ of burnout 2 weeks ago. Back then, I was receiving more than I could handle.

    I did exactly what you wrote (one in particular) which is turning off notification.

    Took the time to list down those who are suppose to be in my notification circle and that worked like charm.

    Thanks for sharing and keep it up!

    Reply

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