Pete Alexander2x TEDx Speaker and best-selling author helping transform burned out workers into engaged colleagues.

Stress Relief Tool - Minimize Social Media Use

15 Jul 2020 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:27

In this short advisory video, the speaker acknowledges that social media can be entertaining and provide a brief escape, but warns that prolonged, frequent use can lead to a range of mental‑health problems. He describes how constant checking can cause fatigue, anxiety, identity disturbance, impulsivity, overwhelm, and sleep disruption across all age groups. To counter these effects, he recommends capping social‑media time to one hour or less per day, and suggests scheduling that time in a calendar and strictly adhering to the allotted slot to avoid spill‑over that could undermine other commitments.

Chapters

I get it. Social media can be so much fun. Funny videos and finding out who's dating who and what a friend is up to can help you decompress and escape for a little while. The problem comes when that short while becomes a long while. Social media can run the gamut from being fabulously uplifting to being totally depressing and exhausting. And this applies to all ages. If you check social media at all hours of the day and night, chances are you'll complain about being tired. It impacts your sense of yourself and your identity and can make you anxious. Social media has created a new sense of impulsivity and urgency, and it can make you feel overwhelmed by what is happening in the world. These factors can be fatiguing and impact how you sleep. The best way to ensure this doesn't happen is to limit your social media usage to 1 hour or less per day. Consider blocking time in your calendar for your social media fix, and stick to the time allotted so that you don't go overtime. Otherwise, you will set a bad precedent for your other calendar commitments.