A FEW ADJUSTMENTS TO OUR INTERNET-FILLED WORLD CAN BRING US SOME CALM TO OUR LIVES
It seems lately that you cannot read an article without some mention of Covid-19. Even if you are actively avoiding the subject, which is difficult to do in our line of work amidst a global pandemic, just having to read prefaces like this can make you feel unsettled. Feeling those familiar feelings of discomfort and exhaustion mark our days now of living, working, and learning as laboratory professionals.
It’s difficult for many of us to feel connected in meaningful ways with busy schedules, social distancing, and loved ones in various levels of quarantine. Sometimes getting on social media to see how our family, old college friends and even that guy we met at a conference 6 years ago is doing can be an opportunity for the joy of human connection and, at other times, an anxiety-filled click hole down subjects and topics we were hoping to avoid.
How can we take care of ourselves while still having some sort of life shared with others, albeit so much of it lived out on the internet and with hectic-as-ever work schedules?
Limit your access to social media
Have a smart phone? Delete the social media apps on your phone or turn off the notifications your receive from these platforms. Such moves to limit access can encourage us to check our news feeds less frequently. If you have a habit of getting on social media more than you would like or would like to care less about your social media presence, try some of these tactics.
Adjust Your Friends List
It is really not cool, at least for the adult version of ourselves, to “collect” a lot of “friends” on social media, like Facebook for example. Having a lot of friends, however vestigial, can often lead to seeing content that we might not want to see or that we find somewhat negative or depressing.
It is okay to occasionally clean up your friends list, unfollow people, or select to see people first who post content that you find positive, uplifting or inspiring.
Share Don’t Compare
Stress from social media happens when we use it to “see what others are doing.” This approach may seem casual and certainly not pernicious to our mental health, but when we scroll and scroll we begin to compare ourselves to others rather than sharing our lives with others. This is a recipe for never seeing our lives and selves as enough. You are enough right now as you are.
Use your accounts to share positive things about your life and then log off. Then, feel free to log back on to see who may have commented and respond to those people. As this Huffington Post article says, “Share Don’t Compare.”
Use other ways to connect
If you are not on social media, but you have made it this far through the article just out of boredom or curiosity, thank you! What are ways that you connect with others? Sometimes picking up the phone can feel like a ton, especially when we are very busy. Try texting a friend or two a funny or adorable pet video or something that reminds you of your friends. Next time maybe the phone won’t feel so heavy. Seven to ten minute phone conversations are also great (and can be achieved with some people, if that’s what you are into). Also, sending a short and sweet postcard is a great way to break up a “ho-hum” routine. Plus, the process of finding adorable stamps and postcards to send can be fun.
We hope that some of these suggestions have inspired you to find make healthy adjustments and changes to your ways of connecting and socializing that help you lower your stress and find positivity
