Prevent burnout at work by using social media, say experts

Who isn’t guilty of having a sneaky little Facebook scroll at work?

But the days of a speedy FB window shutdown when the boss walks by could be a thing of the past, with new research saying social media use at work can actually be a good thing.

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A recent study published in the Journal of Health Psychology looked into the impact of social media use at work, and found scrolling your feeds could help lower burnout amongst employees.

“Originally, the motivation for this research came from [considering] the issue of whether companies should allow or ban employees from social media access in the workplace,” says researcher Dr Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol.

“On the positive side, using social media during work can help employees relax from the stress they experience from work.”

But before you take this as a Facey free-for-all, Dr Charoensukmongkol says we need to be mindful about our usage.

Those “mindful individuals” who are aware of what they’re doing, don’t tend to get carried away, he says. This results in using social media to relax and help increase productivity.

For those who can’t help but fall into an hour-long Instagram black hole, it’s a completely different story.

"Conversely for those who lack mindfulness, when they are not aware of what they are doing, they are more likely to get carried away when they use social media during work," says Dr Charoensukmongkol. "This behaviour can negatively affect their work and lead to stress and burnout as a result."

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