3 Ways to Improve Your Tech Health Right Now
Note: I struggled with deciding whether to post this or not because I didn’t want it to come across as encouraging silence or ignoring a crucial movement and moment in history. I also don’t intend for it to be a way to bow out when someone feels “tired,” something I’ve strangely seen too much of this week. The reason this post was written was to improve the way we expose ourselves to our tech, especially social media, our mental health, and what to do when it all becomes too much whether it’s social injustice, police brutality, the Karens of the world, COVID-19, politics, or just the people who make you feel as though you’re not good enough. Let’s spend more energy and time working together rather than criticizing and arguing with each other on the internet. This post is intended to look at our relationship with the internet, social media, and our phones and how to improve for the sake of our mental health.
Right now everything feels a bit crazy, and while it’s all very important, it can be really overwhelming. Something I feel, based on a number of social media posts criticizing others, not enough people have considered before posting. The discussion surrounding racism, social injustice, and police brutality, is a deeply important conversation to be having. I also think it’s important to be listening to voices who have any authority to speak on the subject, to learn how to be better, and to participate in making change however we, as individuals, can.
That said, as someone whose job partly requires them to be glued to all forms of social media for an obscene amount of the day, there is a need for balance. If you’re one of the people who can be a constant social justice warrior retweeting and organizing, fantastic. Keep doing it. But, if you can’t stand to see another video of cops beating up and spraying peaceful protestors with tear gas or killing an innocent man, it’s okay to take a break.
I must say, there are many reasons to improve your relationship with technology and especially social media that extend to times where there isn’t a revolution happening. Social media is a fantastic tool for creating change and organizing important movements but it’s also proven to have negative effects on our mental health especially stemming from comparisons to others. Right now, it feels like anything you do or say or don’t do or say is judged more critically. So here are a few simple tips for handling tech.
Use the Mute Button
Why use the mute button rather than unfollow someone? Unfollowing people just feels mean especially if you know the person closely. It, like blocking, can cause drama and hurt feelings. The mute button gives you a way to hide their posts whether on Twitter or Instagram without unfollowing them. You can also mute specific words and hashtags to avoid triggering subjects. Your social media accounts are your spaces. You show what you are passionate about and that should be the same for others. If you’re not inspired by accounts you’re following or following an account makes you feel bad about yourself, it’s time to mute or unfollow it all together. Save your space for accounts that are going to share helpful information, ignite your passion further, and make you feel confident.
Track Your Usage
iPhones have a great tracking feature built-in that lets you know how much time you’re spending on your screen. Seeing how much time you’re spending on various apps (my twitter usage was up significantly during the past week or so) can help you curb your overall usage, and change your notification settings. If you don’t have an iPhone, there are many apps that do the same thing. It helps to set limits and take time away from your phone. After consuming social media or the news, take 15 minutes to do an activity you love outside of your phone. It will help balance your brain from the information overload it just received. Certain imagery is burned into our brains and has a lasting effect on us. It’s important to take steps to acknowledge important things, but give ourselves a little space to digest the information rather than seeing just how much we can consume at once and reacting.
Practice Forgiveness
This one may be a little strange, but there is a constant tug of war between maintaining good mental health by logging off and wanting to stay informed about things (or see what people are up to). Practicing forgiveness means realizing you’re a human and letting go of negative feelings that don’t serve you. Negative feelings have a way of taking control over you and changing your behavior. Acknowledge the way you are feeling but don’t fester it. When it comes to individuals, understand they put their best lives forward online and it’s a highlight reel. You don’t need to feel bad missing something or not having something. With current events, find other ways to absorb them whether it’s a daily newsletter or a podcast that runs down the day’s news. Whatever the case may be, realize that most times it’s going to be an expectation you have of yourself that makes you feel upset not always others.