Avoiding Digital Burnout
Posted: June 22, 2021
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Carrying around cell phones 24/7 has impacted how (or if) we get any downtime. Today, digital consumption is almost "required" every waking hour of every day, and it can take a huge toll on your mental and physical wellbeing. Sometimes you have to make a very conscious effort to take a break and keep from being overwhelmed.
Michelle Scheuermann, Archery Wire editor and social media guru, shares great advice on taking a break and avoiding digital burnout.
Avoiding Digital Burnout
Anxiety is at an all-time high in our society. I have a CBD company as a client, so trust me on this one. But if you need case studies, here’s
one. And here’s
one from the CDC. During the start of the pandemic, sales at this CBD company jumped. We were all struggling there for a bit and we all needed
something other than “Tiger King” to help us through this. Then, the news cycle took over our lives for the remainder of the year. Some of us didn’t know what was up or down. I had friends who were texting me almost by-the-minute updates on COVID and the like. I chose to jump off the news cycle completely last June.
I had to protect me, my sanity and my family. I was bombarded by life and death scenarios on the daily – and I couldn’t avoid all of it because HELLO MCFLY I am a social media manager by career choice.
So, I had to choose my digital consumption wisely.
It took me six months to figure it out and frankly, I’m still tweaking.
It starts at night. I have “Do Not Disturb” set on my phone from 10 p.m. through 7 a.m. Only those contacts in my “Favorites” are allowed ring through. Those people are my immediate family and hubby. Not girlfriends. Not clients. When I go to bed, the phone is in another room. I read a book or magazine to help me to sleep. I bought an alarm clock on Amazon for $10.
Waking up early is the key, I’m not the first person to tell you this. I wake up two hours before I really need to “work.” But what you do with those two hours before work is super, duper important. Within the last year, I’ve played around with just getting up and scrolling mindlessly on emails and Instagram, which led to a lot of impulse purchases. Not good. And not helping the idea of reducing my digital consumption. I’ve also played with trying to journal and meditating, which is difficult for me at such an early hour.
Now, I have a table in the corner of my living room. I make really good coffee (important, I have no room in my life for cheap wine or cheap coffee,) and I write in my
Five Minute Gratitude Journal, I read my
daily devotional, I learn a new French verb and I journal my
SOAP Bible studies. My phone is near me, but not consumed by me.
I never, ever check my work email in those first two hours of getting up. You want to eff up the rest of your day? Go ahead and check that email at 6 am and see how your morning goes. This takes strong discipline and yes, I messed up a couple of times. Whatever email is sitting there at 6 am will continue to sit there very nicely at 8 am, or 9 am, or whenever. We need to take back our lives, everyone. My life = my schedule. Your circus = your monkeys.
I work out. I eat breakfast and chat with the hubs. The TV is not on. It used to be – it isn’t any longer. I listen to podcasts or music, or I watch educational YouTube videos. Currently, I’m SUPER into when is the cruise industry going to get back to cruising for crying out loud!
I shower; I get ready for the day. I put on real work clothes and perfume! I never used to wear perfume if I was just working from home. But then I realized I have six bottles of really nice perfume sitting on my dresser, so yeah, I’m wearing it.
I slide into my day. I looked at my phone once or twice in those two hours. Some of you, by this time, have already responded to emails on your phone and sent Instagram stories to your friends. Stop it.
On the weekends, I actually try to turn off my phone for blocks at a time. I get that many of you reading this will not be able to allow that. I didn’t say “all day,” I said, “blocks at a time.” What would happen if you turned your phone off for an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon?? Think about it. One business owner I follow said she purposefully deletes her Instagram and Facebook apps from her phone over the weekend. Then re-installs them on Monday. That’s a good alternative to just completely shutting off your phone. And please don’t tell me you need to check social media for your business over the weekend because if I can do it, you can do it.
I’m still a mess when it comes to digital consumption. The allure of aimlessly scrolling on apps and online shopping is too much for me sometimes. They make it all too easy to take our hard-earned money. We have to be smarter, which may mean completely turning off your phone or walking away from the digital life for a few hours.