4 Tips to avoid burnout as a Social Media Manager

Lorraine Mandiveyi posted on 9 November 2022

Many social media managers are experiencing burnout, with the platforms they manage playing a significant role. Managing your relationship with the platforms you work with to avoid burnout is crucial if you’re a social media manager. Extensive and repeated stress can lead to burnout, affecting physical, mental, and emotional well-being. There has never been a higher rate of burnout in history. When social media exhaustion is combined with regular work-related burnout, it only makes the problem worse!

The question is, how do you determine if you’re burnt out? Burnout is a chronic workplace stress syndrome that has not been effectively managed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO defines burnout in three dimensions:

• Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
• Increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
• Reduced professional efficacy

Companies are responsible for mitigating the effects of burnout on their employees just as social media managers can take personal steps to avoid it. The following tips will help social media managers avoid burnout.

Communicate your social media priorities

Self-care also includes saying “no.” Social teams can be small and mighty, but let’s be honest, they can’t do everything all the time. The key to social media marketing success is to communicate your priorities.

Make it clear that you are open to discussing burnout with your team.

If necessary, you may need to audit your social strategy and ruthlessly prioritize your goals and tasks. By prioritizing your media campaigns, you can ensure your team focuses on the platforms and types of content that are important to your brand.

 Use a scheduler

Using a social media scheduler, you can post all the content you create in advance and limit your social media use. Posting your content on one platform rather than multiple platforms throughout the day saves you time. Rather than being overwhelmed by social media, you can go onto it with a clear purpose in mind so you’re productive and at a reduced risk of burnout.

Turn off notifications

It can be tempting to check all the notifications popping up on your screen or mobile device. Once you click on them, you’ll spend the rest of the day scrolling mindlessly on social media.

Hence, the golden tip is to turn off social media notifications. Regularly check your notifications by setting aside time blocks. Other than that, do not let them interfere with your workflow or work-life balance.

Get off the screen in the evening

To avoid social media burnout, you need to take some time off from the screen. Screen time in the evening can interfere with your sleep schedule by delaying the release of melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep. Your eyes and brain need a break, so it helps to create a thick line between logging in and logging out.

Some more helpful ways to get some screen-free time are:

• Engage in a hobby after work so you do not spend all your time on social media.
• Take a walk. Avoid checking your phone’s notifications if you can.
• Take the time to read a physical book. Even 30 minutes of reading can help you recharge.
• Use apps that limit social media usage

In Conclusion

The best thing you can do to maintain your mental wellbeing is to unplug in the evenings and detox from social media on the weekends. With these tips in mind, we are confident that you will succeed in keeping social media burnout at bay if you follow them.