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Do you feel pressure to constantly post on social media? 

Are you exhausted from trying to turn your life into content?

And do you struggle to find a balance between sharing authentically online while also living in the present moment?

After 13 years of being an entrepreneur and nurturing a social media community, these are issues that I’ve grappled with regularly, and I’ll be the first to admit: I still don’t always get it right.

But what I have done over the years is develop a set of guiding principles regarding who, what, and when I share on social media. This approach is key to protecting my energy and ensuring that regardless of how big my audience grows, my family, my joy, and my personal well-being always remain my top priorities.

And in this fascinating episode, I’m breaking down all the behind-the-scenes details of these ‘guidelines’ and how I approach social media in general.

Press play to discover: the importance of proactively setting boundaries around your posting, why authenticity doesn’t mean revealing every single part of your life, practical tips for uplevelling your digital hygiene, the transformative power of digital vacations, my genius trick for enjoying life to the fullest while still capturing great content, the simple hack that smart content creator use to double their impact, and how I personally like to batch my social media tasks.

So if you’re seeking a healthier approach to your digital life, or looking for strategies to enjoy your life first and share it second, then press play now… this one’s for you.

In this episode we chat about:

• The boundaries that will help you protect your time and energy (while still growing your social media following) (2:56)
• The fine line between being authentic online and oversharing (5:00)
• Powerful steps to uplevel your digital hygiene (6:29)
• Why taking regular digital vacations is crucial for your mental health (7:56)
• My simple but genius hack to fully enjoy events and special occasions (while still capturing epic content) (9:32)
• The technique that smart content creators use to maximize impact with minimal effort (10:58)
• How batching your social media tasks can save you loads of time and stress (12:39)
• My top tips to avoid burnout while sharing your life online (13:39)

Episode resources:

• SheLaunch (join Shelaunch)
• Mastering Your Mean Girl (book)
• Open Wide (book)
• Comparisonitis (book)
• Time Magic (book)

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The following transcript has been automatically generated and not checked for accuracy.

In episode 544, I’m giving you my seven strategies to avoid burnout when sharing online.  Welcome to the Melissa Ambrosini Show. I’m your host, Melissa, best selling author of Mastering Your Mean Girl, open wide, comparisonitis. And time magic. And I’m here to remind you that love is sexy, healthy is liberating, and wealthy isn’t a dirty word.

Each week I’ll be getting up close and personal with thought leaders from around the globe, as well as your weekly dose of motivation so that you can create epic change in your own life and become the best version of yourself possible. Are you ready? Beautiful. Beautiful. 

Hey, beautiful and welcome back to the show.  Today, I am chatting to you about burnout, something that so many of us experience. Especially when it comes to sharing online and feeling like we have to be on all the time. I’m not sure if you can relate to this, but these days it seems like everyone and their grandmother has a social media presence.

And yes, some grandmothers are absolutely killing it on TikTok. Like, the videos are Brilliant. Just absolutely brilliant and all power to them. But sometimes the pressure of capturing and sharing moments from your life. can be super draining and can actually take you out of the moment. I know there’s been times when I have been with Bambi or with friends and it’s been such a beautiful moment.

And I thought, I want to capture this to share it. But then I’m like, no, I just want to be in the moment. And I let that thought go. And then I just come back to the present moment. I’m not sure if you can relate to that, but Before you know it, you are viewing your whole life through the lens of your social media feeds.

Always wondering, how can I turn this into content? Now, this isn’t a bad thing. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it’s just something to be conscious of and something to be mindful of. Because not only does this mindset start to tear you out of the present moment, it also leads to exhaustion, burnout, and can even impact your mental health.

So where is the sweet spot? How do we find the balance between building an active presence online? while also protecting our own wellbeing. I have seven strategies that can completely change your approach to social media. And I want to share those seven strategies with you today. So if you’re not driving, you can write these down and save this episode for whenever you are feeling overwhelmed and burnt out from sharing online.

Okay. The first one is set firm boundaries around what and when you share. While it is so tempting to give your followers an all access pass to your life, that is a surefire route to burnout city. To ensure that your social sharing is sustainable for you in the long term, it’s essential to set healthy boundaries.

For example, maybe you decide not to share pictures of your child like I have. Or only you do so without revealing their face, whatever works for you. Or maybe your relationship is completely sacred and off limits, or maybe you never share content on your weekends or with your family or your friends, whatever it is, it actually doesn’t matter.

What you have to do is tune in with yourself and ask yourself, what healthy boundaries do I want to set for myself that feel good for me in my body? Okay. Because these boundaries aren’t just about privacy. They’re also about protecting your mental space. So decide on your non negotiables and stick to them.

And when I say non negotiables, just that is for you, you know, and you can change your mind tomorrow. You can change your mind tomorrow. This isn’t about putting pressure on yourself. If you decide that you don’t want to share your children, and then next week you decide you do, and that feels really good for you.

Do what feels right for you. Okay. Always do what feels right for you. There’s so many people that I follow online and they have really strong boundaries around this and I’m like, Oh, I just want them to share their kids because I want to see them because they’re so cute or whatever it is, but they have really firm boundaries and I respect that.

I truly respect that. So ask yourself, what are your personal social media boundaries and. Write them down and check in with yourself, you know, every quarter or every six months. Do those still feel true for you?  And just know that you can change your mind, but set firm, healthy boundaries around what and when you share.

Okay. It’s very important. Okay. Number two is authenticity versus sharing everything. So the online world can sometimes feel demanding with so many content creators feeling like they owe it to their followers to constantly update. But the truth is, you don’t actually owe anything to anyone. If there are chapters or areas of your life that you would rather keep private, trust that instinct.

Your well being always comes first. And if you are worried that holding back some pieces of your life somehow make you inauthentic, please do yourself a massive favor and release that outdated belief right now. You can still show up and be fully authentic without sharing about your marriage or your kids or your sex life, whatever it is, you can still be fully authentic without sharing those pieces of your life puzzle.

So being authentic on social media is not about broadcasting every detail of your life, if you don’t want to. It’s about sharing the content that feels aligned and true and genuinely you. That is what it’s about. And think about who you are serving. Who is your ideal customer? And does your content that you share, Align with the type of dream clients or customers that you want.

Make sure your content aligns with that. Okay. Number three, practice impeccable digital hygiene. Instead of being glued to your screen during every free moment, designate specific times for checking and updating your social media. And the rest of your time is for living. I have very, very good boundaries around this.

So. I have times in my day where we have our nanny and that is when I work, which is right now. I have a block of time where I work. I’ve got three hours right now where I am laser focused and I am working. This is when I am on my phone, I’m on my computer. The door is closed to my office and I am focused here.

And then when I go out there, I’m not sitting on social media scrolling. I am not responding to emails in front of her. That is my time to be with her. And I think it’s really important that we have impeccable digital hygiene, especially around our children, because they’re watching everything that we do.

So if you don’t want them to always be on their phones, if they have phones, then we’ve got to. Model that for them. And if you need help getting back in control of your screen time, I highly recommend reading chapter six of time magic. This is the book that Nick and I wrote together. Time magic, reclaim your time, reclaim your life.

And it is such an incredible book and that will help you reclaim some of your screen time. And you can just get that at time magic dot me. And I’ll link to it in the show notes for you guys as well. Okay. Number four. Give yourself regular digital vacations. So everyone needs a holiday sometimes, and that includes a break from social media.

So designate days, weekends, or even a whole week where you log offline completely. Embrace the presence and stillness that comes with disconnecting from the online world. So for me, we have some firm boundaries after Bambi has gone to bed. That is my time to connect with Nick. Sometimes we do a little bit of work for maybe half an hour to wrap things up and to put a nice, neat bow around the day and close the tabs.

But then it’s our time for us. You know, we’re not sitting on the couch scrolling social media. We actually don’t have a couch. But we’re not sitting around scrolling social media next to each other. We are connecting. And on Sundays, I try not to touch my phone at all. That’s a family day. And same with Saturdays, I might do a little bit of posting, but my weekends are sacred.

And that is for me to be present, really present with my family and be out in nature and spending time with family and friends. So have a little vacation, even if it’s just a couple of hours a day from six o’clock to five o’clock. You don’t touch your phone or whatever it is. It is really important to do this.

And if the idea of doing this makes you nervous, please just trust me when I say your ideal avatar, your ideal clients and customers, and the right audience will still be there for you when you return. This is if you have a big digital vacation I’m talking about, but just remember that they will be there.

They will be there. Okay. Number five, post later, not in the moment. So this is something that I do often. Because I don’t know about you, but when you’re with people and you’re watching a beautiful sunset, or you’re at a surprise party and people are taking the photos and videos, and then they’re typing on their phone and you’re trying to enjoy the moment with them, it really does  dilute the moment, you know, really does dilute the moment.

So what I like to do is if it is like. a big occasion. Have a professional photographer there or just one person. Doesn’t have to be a professional. Have one person there taking photos and videos. So that everyone else can really enjoy the moment. I know lots of people do that for their weddings. We actually did that for Bambi’s gender reveal.

We told everyone, please leave your phones in your bags or whatever and just enjoy the moment. Really enjoy the moment. Because we’ve got to soak up these precious moments, right? We’ve got to soak it up, but if you do want to capture it, consider just posting it later. That way you can still enjoy the real time experience without the digital distraction.

I do this all the time and it’s just such a beautiful thing to allow you to really enjoy the moment and not have my head in my phone and missing all of the magic that is around me. So post later, not in the moment. Number six, Capture once, post twice. A smart content creator knows the art of repurposing.

If you’ve got a good photo or video from an event, think of multiple ways that you can use it. You can even use the exact same content, but share it with different captions or context. This reduces the constant pressure of creating new content. And also just a hot little tip for you. When you are at an event, spend a few minutes getting as much content as you can, and then get back to the party.

So if you are all dressed up and you’ve got your hair and makeup done, and you’re wearing a cute outfit, you can grab a friend or your partner and just sneak off for like five minutes, take a couple of photos and videos. And then get back to the party straight away and put your phone away. That way you’re not having to constantly be taking content throughout the event.

You can just go and designate five or 10 minutes and then come back to the party. And something else that you can do if you are getting dressed up, getting your hair and makeup done before you go to the party, grab a bunch of outfits, grab your partner or a friend or your mom. It doesn’t matter. Go to different places around your home and quickly snap some video content and some photos and you’re done, you’re done, you got a whole bunch of different outfits.

I love to just sometimes even get six different tops, wear the same bottoms and just snap, snap, snap, get a whole bunch of content. And you don’t even have to change the bottoms, your hair and makeup’s done. It’s all good. You’ve got some content. That’s such a great little trick that you can do. Number seven, batch your socials.

So instead of randomly thinking about your content all day, every day, designate specific times when you can get hyper focused and get a whole bunch done at once. So drafting captions, planning reels, or scheduling your posts for the week ahead. And by batch tasking, you reduce your mental load. Plus, it ensures that social media doesn’t always loom large in your mind.

And we talk about batching things in Time Magic as well. So we call it Time Magic habit stacking. So if you want to dive deeper into that. We do that not just with business, but we also do that with our health. In business, we do that by taking a walking meeting. That is time magic habit stacking. So you’re getting a walk in whilst you’re doing a meeting, doing emails whilst you are in the sauna, those sorts of things.

So that is Time Magic Habit Stacking and if you want to learn more about that, just go to timemagic.me. So, batch your socials, okay? So, before we wrap up, just a couple of key takeaways. So while sharing online can be hugely rewarding, it is crucial to remember you only get one wild, beautiful, precious, magical life and you deserve to be fully in it and to fully live it.

So if you are feeling internal pressure to capture the moment for its content value, but you’d still honestly rather just soak up the presence, then please consider this your permission slip to always, always choose your life. Choose your life. Because let’s face it, it’s the life you live, not the one you show that truly, truly counts.

Please remember that, okay? So I really hope that these seven tips have really helped you to avoid that burnout when it comes to social media and sharing online. And I would love to know which one out of these seven Most resonates with you. Come and tell me on Instagram at Melissa Ambrosini, and please share this with anyone, you know, you can take a screenshot of it, share it on your social media, text it to your friends, do whatever you’ve got to do, and just know that burnout, overwhelm, that doesn’t have to be part of your story.

Okay. So thank you so much for being here. Thank you for showing up, for doing this work on you. You are amazing. And never forget, ever, ever, ever forget that love is sexy, healthy is liberating, and wealthy isn’t a dirty word.

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be SO grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple podcasts, that way we can inspire and educate even more people together.

P.S. If you’re looking for a high-impact marketing opportunity for your business and are interested in becoming a sponsor for The Melissa Ambrosini Show podcast, please email pr@melissaambrosini.com for more information.

P.P.S. Please seek advice from a qualified holistic practitioner before starting any new health practice.