How do you use Instagram? When I give Instagram workshops like today I always ask my students how much time they spend in Instagram. 📱Go to settings > your activity to check. I spend about 2 hours/day in IG and you? Another important factor is the CONTENT you consume. WHO do you follow? Why? Do you only use Instagram to check out other people’s lives or do you use it for creative expression too? 🎨 One of my students said today: “following doesn’t hurt”, meaning it’s easy to just follow a lot of people. And if you’re “lucky”, they will follow back. That’s true but on the flipside, the more people you follow, the more information (and nonsense) you are bombarded with every day. One of my students said she needs about 2 hours per day to watch all her Instagram stories. Instagram is highly addictive as it creates a subtle feeling of “FOMO” (fear of missing out) and therefore keeps you coming back over and over again. New content, likes, follows and comments release dopamine in your brain - the reward hormone. Your brain is rewarding you with happy feelings that can soon turn into addiction. In a nutshell: Make sure to limit your time on social media. You could for instance set a rule not to touch your phone 1 hour after getting up or before sleep. Set a daily reminder in the Instagram app (settings > your activity). Reflect on your behaviour. Regularly go through the list of people you follow and unfollow accounts that upload useless content. Only follow accounts that make you feel good or inspire you in some way. Do you have any other mindful social media tips? Let’s inspire each other. 😊⤵️ . . . Photo taken on my #sonya7iii with the #55mmf18za lense | editing by @stefanullmann | in the picture: @lulusdreamtown - check out her feed & her captions, she’s a big mindful Insta inspo too! ❤️❤️ (at Cologne, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4AsVJ_J5Kh/?igshid=efinobheyujd
