Working and being online can quickly become overwhelming. And for a girl who tries to keep her life simple and peaceful, I had to come up with strategies to live by while engaging online, because being online can overwhelm me faster than I can count to 10.
For the longest time, I didn’t get on social media. I think my absence from social media started because I found it to be overwhelming. I eventually got to a point where I forgot about social media–it wasn’t in my daily life. And at first, my friends and family would joke about me never being on social media which quickly turned to, “Oh you don’t get on Facebook, it’s probably better that way. You aren’t addicted.”.
But I’m back and I’m determined to not let the world of being online overwhelm me. And I wanted to share with you the strategies that have helped me keep my simplicity and state of peace.
Now, I can’t tell you I haven’t felt overwhelmed or that I haven’t had the temptation to keep up with the Joneses. I’ve had to remind myself often of one of my favorite quotes “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle”. It’s so important to remind yourself of this especially if you’re working to create an online business.
So here are my top 5 strategies of helping myself not feel overwhelmed when I open an app or browser.
Limit my time spent on Social Media
I’ve surprised myself by how much I’m enjoying being back on social media. It’s been fun to let others into the little happenings of our lives and to see the fun things going on in our friends and families daily goings. But oh my gosh, social media is a deep deep rabbit hole that can suck your time away!
This past Lent I gave up being on the computer and phone when Caroline was awake. That was actually pretty hard, especially as I’m trying to start this blog. But ya know what, it was really nice. It let me see how much I grab my phone for silly little things. I learned to restrain myself and to show Caroline it’s ok to just be.
How many times have you just been sitting at a red light and picked up your phone to check something? I’ll admit, I did this a lot but it’s something I’m giving up. I want to teach Caroline that I can sit still for 2 minutes.
My advice: set a limit for yourself for when or how long you can be on social media during the day. For example, you can tell yourself, ‘I can only be on social media between 9 am and 10 am and 4 pm and 5 pm’. Or if you want to check in more often but not be sucked in for long periods of time you can hop on social media during the 45th-59th minute of the hour like 10:45-11:00 and 11:45-12:00 and so on. I like this option the most because it allows me to get on throughout the day but I have a time limit.
Only have 1 or 2 browsers open at a time
This one is probably the hardest for me. I love clicking and seeing new things and I don’t want to lose what I have open in the other tabs. So silly, I know but I think a lot of people do this. I realized one day how distracted and overwhelmed I became when I had a bunch of tabs opened all calling my name asking me to come look and not to be closed.
My new rule is, I can only have two tabs opened. As a result, my productivity and stress have lessened. I stay focused on the task at hand and I’m made to really think about what is important in the moment.
If I feel like something is really important and requires more tabs I write down the site or I open it so it’s in my history and I can go back to it later.
Turn off all notifications on your phone and computer
I LOVE this so much! For a couple of months, I’ve had all my noise notifications off my phone except the ringer for a phone call and wow the difference it makes! I have the little red bubble for texts and everything else is off. I try to keep up with my social media apps at certain times. I check my phone for the time often which allows me to see when I have a text. I try not to open the text unless I have time to respond. If I don’t have the time or it’s not urgent then I wait to the end of the day after putting Caroline down to respond to others. This helps a lot with my productivity, the attention I’m giving to Caroline, and being present in the moment.
Be positive and grateful for other’s success
It’s so hard to want something that another has. Jealously is awful and it hurts more than it helps. We all know this–I’m preaching to the choir, but I think it’s so good to remind ourselves of what jealousy is, what it looks like, and how it tears us down. It’s important to remind ourselves as we’re perusing online to not become jealous of others. There’s a fine line one can have between admiring someone and jealousy. We must keep vigilant and never let our admiration become jealousy.
When I find myself falling down the rabbit hole of jealousy and getting down on myself, I quickly put my phone down or walk away from the computer. And do three things.
- I remind myself how much God has given me and how great it is to be living in His grace.
- I name one thing I’ve been blessed with. Not a material item but a characteristic God has given me to be a daughter of Him.
- I affirm that person or thing that I was becoming jealous of instead of criticizing them.
It’s amazing what building yourself and others up can do for your psychological well-being.
Get outside!
Seriously when I feel overwhelmed by staring at a computer or looking on social media I step outside. Even if it’s just for 10 seconds, it’s enough to take a deep breath and refocus.
The other day I was looking at blogs and social media pages and I felt so overwhelmed by how far behind I felt in my blogging journey. I realized I was starting down a dusty road and stopped. I stopped what I was doing and took Caroline on a 15-minute walk. And ya know what, I thought of this post while I was walking.
Just getting out, gathering my thoughts in the hot Florida air helped me to think clearly and come up with a new post.
So get OUTSIDE! Do it! Just step outside even in the rain. 10 seconds of rain won’t hurt. 🙂 Don’t let yourself be sucked into jealousy and overwhelm. Trust me it’s not worth it. You are enough just as you are.
5 Ways to not feel overwhelmed while online
- Limit time on social media
- Only have one or two browsers open at a time
- Turn off notifications on your phone and computer
- Be positive and grateful for other’s success
- Get outside!
Ok, so that sums up how I like to keep a state of peace, simplicity and added confidence to my life. I hope these strategies can help you focus less on the overwhelm and more on the good things working/being online gives.
Repin this post to your Pinterest boards and print out the printable so you can hang it on your wall or leave it near your computer as a reminder.
Leave a comment and let me know how you stop yourself from feeling completely overwhelmed while online. I’d love to hear your strategies.
XO,
holley
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