Social media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s full of news from our loved ones, inspiring posts, and helpful information. On the other hand, it’s causing major mental exhaustion for almost everybody, everyday. Ugh.

So how can we take the good and leave the bad? Can we avoid throwing out the baby with the bath water? Yes. Here’s how I do it:

1. Remember - people only post the good stuff on social - think of that perfect picture of a sunset that you can’t hear the screaming children in. Check out the picture I used in the image for this blog. Looks great, right? But I was miserable! We spent the morning running errands and packing up and plopping the kids in front of the TV. I felt terrible for rushing like a crazy person while the kids zoned out. When we finally got to the campsite it was late, the kids were hungry, and the mosquitoes were eating us alive. We struggled to get everything set up, get food in tummies, all while fighting the mosquitoes.
   Eventually, we decided to drive around a find a beach. We did find a beach, and that went well until J fell in and soaked his only pair of shoes.
   Moving forward, we found a lovely overlook and the sun was just starting to set. The sunset was the kind that reminds me of how amazingly beautiful God's creation really is. The view was handcrafted by Him and it shows.
   We enjoyed the view and took a lovely picture. At that moment, everyone smiled and looked happy. Approximately 5 seconds later I stubbed my toe HARD on a rock as I chased after the 2 littles plotting to run down the dangerously steep slope.
   But the goodness does that picture look good.
   But at that moment, it wasn't the full truth. Remember that when you see beautiful family photos and the comparison bug starts to bite.

2. Have boundaries around social media for your own mental health. Have a safe space or charging station at which you can leave your devices during certain times. Resolve to put your device away at 6 pm every night. This will not only help keep your mind off of the drama, but it will also help you sleep better by reducing your exposure to blue light.

3. Unfollow. Sometimes you just gotta unfollow someone. Just do it. Take 15 minutes to scroll through your list and unfollow anyone who doesn’t positively impact your feed. I promise, they won’t notice - but you will be better for it. I think Instagram only lets you unfollow 50 people per day, so do this in chunks.

4. Create friction between yourself and the content. Log out of your account and remove the saved password from your phone. Remove the app from your phone altogether. Or, just delete it during the weekdays. Or, you can decide to only access Instagram from your computer instead of your phone. You’ll find yourself instinctively looking for the app less and less - until you no longer need/want to.

These things may be obvious, but they’re so hard to do. Do you have any tips or tricks that I didn’t mention? Let me know! I’d love to chat about this, or whatever else is on your mind!