Whether you work in social media for a company or your personal brand, it’s important to feel like you can unplug, especially during the holidays when you’re with your family. I’ve been hearing from so many of my founders friends and women who run content/social media accounts that feel like they can’t step away— the burnout is real. We all get caught up in scrolling, but not everyone can put their phone away due to work. So here are some tips that have helped me personally. My daughter is home from preschool for the next 2 weeks and we have family visiting, so I planned ahead the best I could.

I do want to add that the last couple years have been so strange… we all had to use our digital platforms to connect with each other (thank goodness we had this), but if you have the opportunity to be present with your family this season, soak it all in! It truly is such a blessing.

I love the quote “Everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you” – Anne Lamott

*** BTW, these tips may even help you if you’re not in content/social media and you find yourself on your phone mindlessly scrolling.

SOCIAL MEDIA

I know it’s tough, especially if you run multiple social media accounts or brands. If you’re doing it for yourself or for a company, here are some easy ways to set boundaries with your work. Also, this post is specifically for social media, but it could relate to other areas of your work- don’t forget to set up that vacation response!

• Schedule your content for the next couple weeks ahead of time. Need to post every day? I like using apps like Planoly or UNUM. I just laid out posts until January 3rd and it feels amazing! I’ve actually never been able to do 2 weeks, but I committed to this for the holidays so I can be with my daughter. I consider myself a full-time mama who works when I can squeeze in some time (we don’t have a nanny). She does go to preschool, which is unpredictable these days with COVID and sickness. When she does go, I get to manage life, the house, my personal to-dos, and then some work. I’ve had to learn to be very efficient with my time and set clear boundaries. Weekends and time out of school are time for me to be present at home. Plus… all moms share that these years pass so quickly- soak in every minute that you can!

• Open social media only to post what you need to post. Avoid watching stories and scrolling, which can turn into longer than you anticipated. Plus, if you find yourself catching up with friend’s lives just by watching their stories, you may forget to truly check in with them with a phone call, coffee date, dinner, or Facetime. After 2020, we became too dependent on social media to connect. Now it’s time to disconnect so we can really connect with what matters.

• Post stories quickly and log off- no need to linger.

• Turn off notifications – this is huge. IG, facebook, TikTok and most platforms now make it really easy to go in and see your notifications on your own time.

• Resist the urge to open your phone to constantly check your DMs and notifications. They’re not going anywhere and you can check during certain hours.

• Set an autoresponder or turn off replies, especially if you know you won’t be able to reply. This helps to ensure you’re not leaving anyone on unread. If you run a large page, it could end up being over 300 replies a day and that’s too much to manage when you need to be with your family. To set up an autoresponder, go into your Business Suite in the backend of Meta (facebook). Everyone is so understanding!

• Limit screen time: there’s a setting in your phone where you can limit your screen time. This way, you’re really efficient, post what you need to, and log off. Check out your screen time history… some days, it’s hours.

• Remember, less is more. For brands, influencers and anyone running a page- quality over quantity. This way you can spend your quality time with family over the holidays.

I hope this post helps! If you’re an owner of a brand, send this to your social media team too! Burnout is avoidable and the more you have compassion for what really matters this season, the happier you and your team will be.

Cheers to R&R! xoxo