Grow 1%: Be Mentally Healthy

Pick one of these newsletters every day, spend 2 minutes reading and 8 minutes implementing the lesson (1% of your waking day) and your socials will get 1% better.

Don't buy growth hacking classes. Save your money. Do this instead.

Protect your brain. Protect your audience's brains.

Study after study after study after study after study reach the same conclusion:

Social media makes you depressed, emotionally dull, and may give you ADHD.

This is bad for the world.

You don't want to contribute to the decline of the society.

And it's bad for you.

You want all of the great stuff that comes along with social media without the bad stuff.

So how do you build your brand, express your creativity, and market your wares without contributing to the decline of society and, by some studies, ruin your brain?

Although these studies have a tendency to focus on the problem and not the solution, there are six themes that arise that are actionable:

?? Create as much as you consume: Do you want to watch 4 hours of TikToks per day? Fine. Then spend 4 hours making TikToks per day. This will make you an active participant in social media instead of a consumption-zombie. And also serves to:

?? Consume with intention: I always keep an open Notes files on my computer to write down things I find interesting as I watch social media. It forces me to be engaged while watching and helps me avoid rabbit holes.

? Limit your time: Do your best not to check social media mindlessly. Schedule time to watch social media and force yourself to avoid it the rest of the time. It's hard, but so is going on a diet or quitting smoking. And these studies often compare social media consumption to these other vices.

?? Eyes on your own paper: Don't compare yourself to others. I can't tell you how many times I'm on LinkedIn and see someone with more followers or engagement and feel that tinge of jealousy. If you have to, mute those profiles. There will always be someone who looks like they're doing better than you. Get in the habit of learning from them instead of getting jelly, and focus on reaching your own goals. Speaking of which:

??Goal Setting: I find setting clear goals around my posting schedule, content quality, and DM marketing volume makes social media more of a business tool than an idiot box. And don't make your goals contingent on vanity metrics. Just use those as a data point. By staying goal oriented, I can constantly keep myself back in 'proactive' zone when I start slipping into mindless consumption.

?? Take a break if you have to: If social media isn't serving you, delete the apps from your phone and block those websites . Check in on yourself. Social media is a powerful tool, but it isn't the only tool. If you don't feel like you can use it without becoming depressed or addicted, it's time to go cold turkey even if just for a week or two. I've done this with Twitter often and I've never regretted it.

This edition could be twice as long, but these are the six I focus on the most for my personal social media journey.

If you have more tips for healthy social media usage, please let the readers know in the comments!

My mission for you this week: start small.

Try scheduling your creation and consumption time.

Don't deviate from this schedule.

And if you are overcome with desire to go on your accounts, match every second of consumption time with creation time.

That took 2 minutes. You have 8 minutes left. Take care of your brain and grow 1% right now!

Thank you to our sponsor BrandArmy!

About the Author

Phil Ranta, is the COO of?We Are Verified , a digital talent management and influencer marketing company. A?2021 LinkedIn Top Voice in Innovation & Tech , Phil has been creating content for the internet and building internet businesses professionally for nearly 20 years, starting on MySpace and riding trends to the present. He was the Head of Gaming Creators, North America at Facebook, the first network lead at Fullscreen, the COO at Studio71, and spent 10 years as a working comedian (including 2 years on cruise ships). He's a husband, a dad of two littles, and an insufferable digital media wonk.

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