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Employee productivity

5 ways to set social media boundaries to improve productivity and mental health

ByAlyssa Place
November 2, 2021 12:27 PM
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It’s challenging enough to stay focused at work. Add in the distractions of social media and employees are spending more time on their phones than on their to-do lists.

The average user spends 145 minutes per day on social media platforms, 209 minutes distracted by work emails, and 52 minutes playing games — nearly 7 hours — according to various research by Adobe and McKinsey. It takes an average of 24 minutes to get back on task after being interrupted, meaning an employee’s day is filled with more idle time than productive work.

Read more: 8 tech tools to improve employee productivity

While social media can be a way to unwind, it’s important to be intentional and look constructively at the purpose of your time online, says Dr. Paula Durlofsky, a clinical psychologist.

“Never have I heard someone say, ‘Wow, I feel so refreshed after scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter,’” she says. “It's really important to be cognizant of how you're feeling and the emotional space that you're in even before going online.”

Dr. Durlofsky recommends people limit their social engagement to 15 minutes at a time. To make this happen, she shares her five tips for setting healthy boundaries.

Set a timer

"When does time logged in become not useful? Personally, and from my clinical experience, I'm not sure if anything beyond 15 minutes on a social media platform is useful. If you’re interacting and having a conversation with a friend or a colleague, maybe that’s a good reason to be on the platform for longer."

Think about the purpose

"Ask yourself, what am I hoping to achieve? If you’re on social media, is it to expand networks? Is it to boost relationships offline? Is it to expand your interest or knowledge? Really be very clear as to what your goals are."

Schedule your time wisely

"Schedule your social media check-ins just like you would any other responsibility during the day. Whether it's in the morning, the afternoon and in the evening, have that time limit and book it."

Put your phone away

"With the merging of work emails and work information, as well as personal information, it's very difficult to not look at our phones. It may be important to also mindfully and with intention have your phone in an area where you can’t easily get to it, either out of your room, in a drawer, or somewhere else where you are separated from your device."

Educate yourself on social media 'nutrition'

"When we eat food, we know the ingredients and the nutritional facts about what we’re ingesting. Shouldn’t that be the same with what we are emotionally consuming? Learning about our mental health, how we develop, understanding our emotions, that’s so important when it comes to making decisions about how we engage."
Alyssa Place
Editor-in-chief, Employee Benefit News
Employee productivity Workplace management
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