4 Ways Content Creators Can Prioritize Their Mental Health

On paper, a career as a content creator might seem easy — you post videos and pictures, collaborate with brands, chat with followers, and set your own work hours. However, anyone who’s spent time on the internet knows how it can negatively impact someone’s mental health.

Content creators face several challenges, including negative comments, social comparison and other factors. However, many tips and solutions are available to help improve your mental health.

1. Choose the Content You Consume

Most of your work involves some form of social media, so you likely spend hours on it daily. The issue isn’t necessarily screen time — research has shown that it isn’t indicative of mental health issues. Instead, the content you consume when online is the problem.

When you’re not working, such as uploading content or responding to direct messages, do your best to pick what information you consume. In some cases, the best idea is to avoid social media altogether unless it’s for work. Otherwise, figure out what kind of content makes you feel anxious or sad — like “doomscrolling” through posts about war — and avoid it.

2. Build a Healthy Work Schedule

Starting a business is a tricky and tiring process. Some people develop unhealthy coping mechanisms to keep up with it all, which further contribute to poor mental health. Be sure to prioritize a healthy work schedule when you navigate starting and growing your business as a content creator.

Set aside a few hours at the start of each week to map out your schedule. If you have content you need to upload at specific times, make sure you have a plan to do so. Note any meetings in your calendar, too. From that point, you can fill in each day with smaller tasks, like replying to emails, responding to comments and taking breaks.

Take a breather if you run into unexpected roadblocks during the week. So long as you quickly communicate with all relevant parties about extending deadlines or rescheduling meetings, you shouldn’t have unnecessary stress on your shoulders — people are more accommodating than you think. When you feel like your commitments have become too much to handle, learn to say no to new ones.

A healthy work schedule with enough downtime is key to your health and success.

3. Connect With Other Content Creators

Content creation becomes a more popular form of employment every day due to the never-ending transformation of social media. As a result, you have a growing community of creators to build relationships with, which can help take the potential loneliness out of working by yourself.

Reaching out to others in your niche can be a powerful way to collaborate for work and outside of it. If you upload lifestyle content on YouTube, you could feature a fellow content creator in one of your vlogs. These collaborations can bring attention to each of your social media profiles, and you get a chance to create business and personal connections with them.

Creating content is a social job in many ways, but it can still feel a bit isolating to run a business by yourself, especially when you work in a space like social media. Building a network with like-minded people who share your job introduces more positivity and well-being into your life.

4. Understand What You Can Control

The internet can be a hurtful and confusing place, especially when you’re in the spotlight. Whether you have 2,000 or 250,000 followers, people can leave negative comments about you and your work, which can significantly affect your mental health.

You can take measures to protect yourself online, but you should understand what you can and can’t control — negative comments fall under the “can’t” category. Still, even though you don’t have power over who says what about you, you can limit how often you see it.

If you feel like it’s hard to brush off negative comments and they’ve started to affect how you view yourself, try the following tips:

• Adjust settings so only mutual followers can comment on your posts.
• Close your direct messages so you have to approve who can message you.
• Don’t look up your name or username on search engines or social media.
• Block accounts that send negative comments or messages.

As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. If you don’t know what people are saying about you, it’s much easier to be happy and secure in how you view yourself. Constructive criticism can help you become a better content creator, but filtering out the negative, unhelpful messages will boost your overall mental well-being.

Your Well-Being Comes First

Creating content for a living is a dream job for many. However, it isn’t a perfect career path — the state of social media and the independence of being self-employed can create mental health issues for creators. Make sure your mental health is a top priority so you can fully enjoy your passion.