As a small business owner, finding balance with social media has been critical with success.

Even before I began my little hustle as a self-employed business owner, there were times my relationship with social media was very toxic.

I was following all of these women on Instagram that I thought were super cool, but then I would spend hours scrolling through Instagram every single day, leaving me without any light in the day to go do things I was passionate about, like writing or sitting down to watch a movie.

I also began comparing my worth to these kinds of people, and found myself in a little rat race of sorts when it came to Instagram and trying to gain more followers.

In 2021, right after I finished my college degrees, I began my freelancing side hustle. Well, over the years, I’ve begun to consider this a business, especially as it’s become my primary source of income.

Sure, it’s a little unstable at times, but it’s my main source of income. But as someone who works mainly online, having a social media presence has been critical.

It’s landed me more clients on the freelancing side of things, but also has helped my personal brand as an author and writer. I make an income off of my books, photography, blog, and so much more.

Here’s some tips I’ve learned through the years about social media and mindfulness when it comes to the business.

Have a dedicated set amount of time each day when it comes to business accounts.

I primarily work through Instagram and this website, and if I find myself on Instagram, it’s really a black hole. Once you start scrolling, it’s hard to stop yourself. There’s a reason why these app designers are looking for ways to make you addicted. They want you to doom scroll all day through these apps, as that’s what makes them money at the end of the day.

In order to combat this, what I’ve done is use my Samsung phone app timers. You basically just set a timer for a specific amount of minutes or hours per day, and once it’s up, you’re done. No more time on that app until it resets at midnight. So what I do is this: I dedicate forty minutes a day towards business related Instagram work.

Whether it’s DMs or replying to people in the comments, this is the time to do that. I don’t go beyond this time ever because I value my sanity and labor, and Instagram isn’t a core part of my brand anymore. It helps, but I like to diversify whenever possible because you can’t be reliant on one platform.

My personal time is only about ten minutes. I rarely use social media personally any more, as I see it as a way to be a digital diary, preserve things I’m interested in. I mute everyone whose stories I don’t want to see, and I pretty much just keep up with the close friends and family on the account. By limiting my time I’ve seriously become so much happier and less stressed.

Know your boundaries and limits.

As someone with a degree literally in retail, I know it sucks in customer service and people facing jobs. Social media puts you on full blast in front of so many different people, all of whom are probably judging you in that very minute.

People’s ideas of what a good or kind person are very different based on cultural praxises and prejudices, but I’ve learned to firmly, but kindly set my boundaries whenever possible when people are being abusive towards me on the Internet. If it warrants a block or no response, as I don’t know if me responding will backfire, I just go ahead and do so.

Now, this tip doesn’t just apply towards dealing with the toxic person that appears every so often. This applies to the previous tip, but setting these kinds of limits and boundaries really helps you out with realizing how far you’ll go to bend backward for the social media gods.

Know how much you can handle, especially when it comes to labor. If you’re sacrificing personal time for reel content, then maybe it’s time to take a step back.

Cultivate relationships, not just viewing people for how you can use them.

I feel like this has become such a general life tip, especially after living in New York City and seeing how other people will use others or judge them based on their follower count.

I went to a fashion school where people would literally not talk to you after asking how many followers you had on Instagram. It was disgusting. The thing is, they only saw them as followers, not just people who they could connect with and learn from in the future.

I prefer to connect with my followers and get to know them. Granted, I don’t follow everyone back, but I’m also someone who loves to get to know people and be acquaintances or friends on my personal account.

By treating people like people, it feels more real and less like a job. I also really love knowing people’s stories and hearing what they have to say, so it’s fun to get feedback. I love it so much!

Focus on authenticity and things you like.

Trust me, it feels a lot less like a chore and more of something fun when you view social media as something you can connect with beyond a job.

When I begin to lean more fake on my accounts, I really feel like I’m suffering and that this becomes a job.

By making content I love, promoting the causes and people I’m passionate about, it leads me to feel more fulfilled rather than checking off of a quota. It also helps with building those relationships I mentioned, as people get to know me as a person, not just a brand.

That said, it can be difficult to achieve this. There are nights where you’re going to feel like no one wants to see what you want to post, but that’s okay.

Growth really isn’t linear, and life has its ups and its downs. Manifest the life and social media you want to have, and it will come to you with time. Every experience is a learning one, even if we don’t get the desired outcomes immediately!

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