Here’s my response to published author L.E. Henderson‘s post, Why I Got Into a Fight With My Phone, in which L.E. (she’s Lisa to me, but I suppose L.E. are good authorly initials) fights her phone’s constant social media notifications invading her mental space and distracting her from the task of writing.
Folks, take control of your smartphone’s Notifications. Turn OFF those damn annoying notifications. I disable notifications of ALL SOCIAL MEDIA apps and EMAIL on my phone and laptop. The only apps I allow to notify me are phone calls, text messages (NOT Facebook Messenger), and calendar notifications (I don’t want to miss doctor’s appointments). Okay, I allow App Store badges so I know when my apps have updates. Who wants buggy apps?
TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
TURN OFF ALL SOCIAL MEDIA & EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS
But do allow important phone calls and texts through, especially if the call or text is from your spouse or sweetheart, your kid(s) if you have any (I hope for your sake that they are sweethearts at least some of the time), co-workers (perhaps), and maybe even your boss (she probably requires it). Let your calendar notify you of appointments because you don’t want miss important meetings or doctors’ appointments (you know, they charge you when you don’t show up without 24 or 48 hours). Designate certain Contacts as Favorites (my husband, son, parents, & sister) so that those calls make it through even when you have Do Not Disturb on (in case of emergency, like if my son desperately needs a Gatorade or something from McDonald’s). Pick and choose which calendars notify you. DO NOT LET FACEBOOK FEED EVERYONE’S BIRTHDAY INTO YOUR CALENDAR – what a nightmare.
Another way I cope with social media overload is by compartmentalizing social media outlets. By the way, I do engage in social media interactions for an INORDINATE amount of time daily. For those social media whiz kids reading, yes, I do have Hootsuite, but find the multiple feed streams overwhelming – at least for now. I love the Hootlet, though. Handy. So here goes: I simply CLOSE the tab on my browser and disengage. In and out. Next task. In and out. Next task. Once or if I ever master Hootsuite, I may simply periodically engage and disengage in that one application to use multiple social media platforms. Multiple social media platforms, you may ask. Yes, I’m all over cyberspace. Just take a gander at those pretty colorful icons under “LET’S CONNECT.” Each of those lovely icons links to one of my social media presences. Just for when you need an overload of me.
How do you cope with social media overload?
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