For all the wonderful things social media brings us as individuals and business owners, it has a few negative qualities, too. One being: social media overwhelm.

The only way to truly avoid ever feeling overwhelmed by social media is to not use it at all, though that isn’t really an option for most of us.

Since you can’t really live without social media, what can you do to combat that feeling?

Here are 5 steps to try:

5 Ways to Avoid Social Media Overload

1. Post Less Often Three blog posts a week, 2 Facebook status updates a day, and 15 minutes a day – each – on Twitter and Google+, is very terrific! But if this kind of activity level is stressing you out, then cut back! Consistency is always best on social media, so you’ll be better off if you slide the level of posting down a notch or two to a frequency you can more comfortable maintain.
2. Don’t Start a New Profile The pressure to keep up with the Social Media Joneses can be a serious affliction. But worrying about someone else having more followers than you, or receiving more blog post comments than you, or the news that (Insert the Latest New Fangled Social Media Platform or App to be Released) is a MUST HAVE is only going to make the social media overwhelm feeling more intense.
3. Outsource your Social Media Tasks One thing we see a lot from our clients is the desire for someone to take the load off them. Even if it’s just a bit of it. Maybe you enjoy pinning, but the thought of writing a blog post every week causes your blood pressure to spike. If that’s the case, keep pinning for yourself and hire out the blog post writing.
4. Unfollow Fan Pages or People Clearing out the clutter in your streams can do a lot for your mental well-being on social media. It may be best to completely disconnect, or maybe just unfollowing a few Friends and Fan Pages is all you need.
5. Institute your own “No Screen” Time My best piece of advice for when you are feeling overwhelmed by social media is to power down your laptop and close out your social media apps. An evening of being disconnected can do a body – and mind – good!

We’ve all been there…what is your best piece of advice for either decreasing or eliminating the feeling of being overloaded by social media?