A friend once told me she feels like a bad mom when she compares herself and her kids to photos that other moms are posting. The mom she was comparing with had posted beautifully curated shots from her child’s birthday.

We spoke about comparison, how it can be a ‘thief of joy’ (a quote attributed to a few different people), and what to consider when the negative self-talk walks in.

I invited her to just see the images for what they are: Slices of moments.

I mentioned to her that all these images show me, is how this mother wanted to represent herself and her family - in that slice of a moment, and what she found valuable to share with the world – in that slice of a moment. It tells me nothing about her as a mom, what it took for her to get to that moment, or what happened after it.

Most importantly, it said nothing about my friend, the kind of mom she is and the woman I know her to be.

We’re still learning about our relationship with social media and being digitally connected to hundreds of people at any given time. It can be a space of thriving and brilliant imagineering. As much as the internet is still evolving, so are we in our relationship with and in it. And coming up against negative comparison, is one of many abrasive experiences we deal with being online. Sometimes, time spent scrolling is permission to do something non-work related, non-productive. It provides me a sense of allowing. But other times, I have to be really careful with the impact of being exposed to so much, so quickly, and constantly caught up in its hum. Especially if it drowns out my voice and the supportive voices of those around me.

So, here are 9 tips that I try to use towards a more mindful engagement with digital spaces.
TIP: You can save the images below and use these steps whenever you need.

Got tips and ‘strategies’ of your own? Share them with us in the comments below!