My Love/Hate Relationship with Social Media…..
If you’re over the age of 50…..you may remember a time when face time meant spending time in person, face to face over coffee. And if you had a mobile phone, it was tied to your car and it was as big as a shoebox.
Oh, the good old days…
Now I wish my smart phone would go back to being dumb, just for a minute. But it’s 2020 and we’ve got to at least try to keep up, right? One of the things I work on with my clients constantly is learning how to deal with the ever changing tech and social media “stuff” AND how to have a sense of humor about it all.
First of all, if you’ve ever felt beyond frustrated, like you wanted to throw your computer out your office window or if you’ve ever had a panic attack just trying to post or edit a post, I’ve been there. I’ve literally felt the walls closing in on me, just like in the garbage compactor scene in Star Wars.
Here are a few steps that you can use, no matter where you are in your social media spectrum:
1. Breathe. Deep belly breathing is one of the most loving, kind things you can do for yourself. I’m talking, let your belly pooch out, your chest barely moves, and you breathe into your lower back as well. Take a deep breath with me right now. Sigh.
2. Know yourself and your best Stretch Times. I am much fresher in the mornings for learning new things or things out of my comfort zone. I save the more mindless things for late afternoon or evening times. If I can feel a heaviness in my brain, I know that it’s better if I attack the new tech issue first thing in the morning after my morning ritual.
3. Rein yourself in. Seriously. Social media is a rabbit hole that is super powerful. It’s easy to go in for one simple task and then get side tracked, only to look up and realize you’ve missed an important call, errand, or meeting simply because you lost yourself. I’ve trained myself to be very intentional when I jump on and off social media. I’ll write on a post it note what I’m intending to do: message a specific person or send a personal message to someone, etc.Having that post it note posted to my computer right in front of me, helps me remember my original intention in the first place. This is simple but HUGE!
4. Take a break. If you’ve had a rough day or you’re really tired, it’s best to take a “time out” from social media. Most people report feeling depressed, down or isolated when they go on and see all of the fabulous, photo shopped, filtered curated lives. It’s so easy to forget that what we’re seeing isn’t the whole picture.
5. Stop saying “I’m so bad at social media.” Every single business owner I’ve ever met who’s over the age of 30 says this to me. It’s not true. Social media is really just a bunch of tools, and strategies and skills. If you can breathe and keep a sense of humor about it, you can learn the basics.
6. Start Out Strong. If you’ve never done a video, then just do one in a safe Facebook group or community. Get a friend to help you. You can even do a practice video with your phone and send it to a friend. If you’ve done some video before, set a goal for yourself that will stretch you but that’s not too crazy. Don’t promise you’re going to doa video daily if you’ve only done one per month or year before. Set yourself up to win.
To learn more, contact Elaine at elaine@CaptivateTheCrowd.com
Elaine Williams
(646) 526-3522
Elaine is an award winning stand up comedian, speaker and performance coach who’s been on Saturday Night Live, America’s Got Talent, HBO, ABC, NBC, FOX TV; been featured in The New York Times,Hay House Radio & the Huffington Post.Elaine’s clients have gone from never doing video/speaking live to having their own You Tube Channels, doing International Book Tours, and speaking for NASA.