Protecting your mental health while working in Social Media is a bit of a reach…but it is possible

The world has evolved so much that basically everything happens first on social media before the real world gets a clue. As a result, companies employ social media managers to help them navigate the different social media platforms while also managing their online communities and audiences.

For certain kinds of brands and industries, content calendars and scheduling tools are available for social media managers to make work less stressful.

Tools make it easier to catch a break and focus on other activities outside of social media, but what happens to social media managers that work in media?

News media where you need to be alert at all times, monitoring developing stories and trends, and ensuring that not only are they reported, but reported in a timely fashion.

I head the social media team in a media firm and the last 2 years have been the most challenging of my career to date, thanks to COVID-19 and the effects of adapting to new work realities.

Social media took a completely different turn in the past few years and my team and I were right in the middle of it, not just reporting on COVID-19 or the social media challenges that started from TikTok, but finding ways to adapt our existing channels to match the current times so we don’t get lost or left behind.

Every channel we worked with had something new that we needed to infuse into our existing social strategy and our creativity was put to the test at different times. If we batted an eyelid, we would literally miss a trend and be late to the party. And we hate to be late to any party.

Anxiety Pulse Nigeria

During the pandemic and resulting lockdown, I started battling burnout, anxiety disorder and even had panic attacks on some days, which required that I speak with a therapist.

The first couple of weeks in therapy were extremely difficult because I quickly realized that I hadn’t been practicing enough self-care as I should have. In fact, I had completely neglected my mental health and it was time to make adjustments.

Let’s face it, 2020 was a difficult year for a lot of Nigerians, not only did we face the consequences of the lockdown but the constant police brutality and resulting protests set us all on a new course as we realized we were really on our own as a people.

2021 wasn’t any fairer, by now a lot more Nigerians had solidified their “Japa” plans and the economy kept taking a downward spiral.

Now in 2022, nothing is easier but I have found a few mental health/self-care exercises I have been able to do to keep my mind at ease while still working in social media (thanks to the support of my therapist and colleagues:

Finding time during the day to do nothing in particular. I do this for about 20 minutes daily where I just close my eyes and think of nothing.
Muting, unfollowing, blocking certain words and accounts on social media which I find annoying or depressing. I have almost 1000 words on mute and I rely mostly on my company’s news website for updates.
Switching off my phone or putting my phone on airplane mode once work is done for the day.
Asking colleagues to help out in cases where I don’t feel up to the task.
Resisting the urge to be online when I don’t have anything to contribute. I have been able to cut down my average screen time by 4 hours since I started doing this.
Spending more time outside (in this case my balcony).
Taking cold showers at random times of the day and listening to music.
Going to bed as soon as it’s 9pm and not taking any calls until 8am the next day.
Calling a friend or my therapist on the phone and just letting everything out whenever I feel overwhelmed.
Refusing to be put under pressure even when I feel pressured. I simply take deep breaths and reassure myself that I’m capable of getting the job done.
Setting a particular day of the month to hangout with my friends and explore new places.
I drink a lot of Orange juice to stay hydrated and create TikTok videos.

Though these exercises have helped, I still think more attention should be paid to social media managers who do not have the option to “log out of social media” or who would have to face the consequences of “not responding to messages right away”.

In my own case, I had to speak up, but not everyone is bold enough to take such steps. If you have a social media manager at your company, would you be able to identify symptoms of mental health challenges and provide the necessary support?

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Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of the Contributor, it doesn't reflect the opinions of the company.