I don’t know about you but I get overwhelmed easily.

As in, presented with too many options, I will often run away without choosing anything.

Silly, right?

At least I know I’m not alone. A recent study found that seven out of ten Americans are exhausted by the news. That’s almost all of us! And where do we consume most of our news? Scrolling through the social media apps on our phones, of course.

Part of the problem is that social media gives us a serious case of FOMO. We want to make sure we’re not missing out on the latest news, whether it’s about the political campaign we’re following or the gossip within our own friend group.

If you’re a creative entrepreneur, you probably feel like you’re missing some social media platform or strategy and it’s going to cost you business.

What about a simpler solution? How do you go about existing on social media in a way that doesn’t stress you out and doesn’t make you feel like you need to be doing more, more, more. Here are three ways you can simplify your mindset and approach to social media:

  1. Focus on one platform

These days we have so many options to choose from. With new social media platforms and services coming out every day, it’s hard to keep up. By the time you find your footing on one, there’s another that everyone says is the next hot thing.

The solution? Pick one. And if you’re going to choose just one, why not get the most out of your time and effort by choosing something that gives you all the tools and support you need? uSync is a new social media platform on a mission to simplify your social media experience. It has all the functionality of other social media platforms you’ve been using, all in one place. The seamless user experience allows you to create and connect rather than worry about whether you’re doing enough.

2) Find your why

Ask yourself why you’re using social media. No really, go ahead and think about it. It’s ok if your answer is killing time or stalking my former classmate’s baby pictures.

Now ask yourself: what do you want your ‘why' to be? Do you really want to be spending hours feeling bad about yourself and jumping from one useless article to the next? Or, do you want to get some value out of the time you spend on social media?

If you make a conscious decision to use social media to find volunteer opportunities in your area, connect with a former teacher to tell them how much their work meant to you, or find articles about how to improve your guitar playing skills, we’re talking about a whole new ball game, aren’t we?

3) Connect and create more than you consume

This might seem out of place in a discussion about simplifying your social media use, but think about it for a moment:

If you’ve ever caught yourself scrolling through social media with no other purpose in mind other than to distract yourself, you know it’s a feeling very much like gambling. You keep scrolling because there’s always the possibility that the next post, image or article will be more interesting than the previous one.

On the other hand, if you’re using social media to connect with other people and create content, whether it’s posting photos of a trip you took or sharing a lecture you found interesting with a friend, you have a specific purpose and aren’t likely to get lost in aimless scrolling.

What does that have to do with simplicity? If you use social media with intention and purpose, it becomes a tool, not a distraction. The purpose of it becomes, quite literally, simple. You’re no longer overwhelmed by all of the things social media could do. You’re now focused on the specific set of things it can do for what you want to accomplish.

There’s nothing wrong with searching for inspiration, of course, but there’s a point where it becomes mindless and even paralyzing. This simple shift of creating more than you consume will make your approach to social far more simple.