How long does the average person spend on social media? Can you believe it’s 3 hours a day, and for Teenagers it’s 4.8 hours!
How can social media affect our mental health?
It can cause anxiety, depression, loneliness, envy, jealousy, cyber-bullying, sleep disruption, addiction and impact on self-esteem.
What are the positives of social media?
As well as creating loneliness, it can reduce it! Ironic really, as you can reduce loneliness by connecting to people with photos, threads, likes, voice notes, comments, videos and more… So a connection between friends and family is there, but how superficial is that connection? Another positive would be the unlimited access to the internet for information. Social Media platforms like Instagram are extremely informative.
How can we manage our exposure?
- Find actual hobbies to spend your time wisely in.
- ‘Turn Off’ notifications to reduce any disturbances.
- Set your phone to a screen time ‘Limit’.
- Allow yourself switch off time zones e.g. between the hours of 7pm-11pm.
What natural / hands on remedies reduce screen time anxiety?
In no particular order, I would say these do:
- nature;
- face to face chats;
- massages;
- bird song;
- music;
- animals (for some people);
- social meet ups;
- sport;
- cooking;
- reading;
- art work;
- favorite hobbies;
- singing;
- dancing;
- yoga;
- writing & journaling.
The list is truly endless!
How do I personally use my screen time wisely?
Hmm, well, sometimes I don’t!
I know when I’m consuming too much media, as I can feel myself slipping into a state of confusion, anxiousness and irritability. So, to solve this, and reduce my exposure, I’ve come up with 5 top tips:
- My phone isn’t set to Notify me
- I use Insta for mainly research
- I do not have TikTok
- I try NOT to scroll MINDLESSLY
- I do not go on social media as soon as I’ve woken
Hope they help!
Much love.
Jen xx