It’s no secret that practicing mindfulness can be a game-changer for both mental health and emotional stability.

Is mindfulness a new concept to you? Don’t worry– it’s pretty simple. Mindfulness is any step taken to be more conscious of how your surroundings are affecting you. This can be as straightforward as observing your breathing, savoring food, or listening to music. By keeping simple mindfulness tools like these in your back pocket, you’ll be able to extend mindfulness to other areas of your life too, like social media use.

Much like other things you come into contact with on a daily basis, social media affects you in ways you aren’t always aware of.  Some studies have found connections between social media use and anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Others suggest that social media consumption can contribute to unhealthy sleep patterns. And one new survey even found that ‘1 in 2 people feel like social media makes it OK to use drugs.’

Needless to say, our mood and overall well being are regularly influenced by social media consumption– and whether we’re scrolling, sharing, liking, or tweeting, this is something we should be mindful of.

Here are 3 quick tips to keep your social media habits rooted in mindfulness.

Check Your Emotions at the Door

Before reaching for your phone, be sure to think about what’s driving you to use social media at that moment. Where is your head at? Are you feeling particularly down? Lonely? Bored? Whatever state your mind is in, it’s best to be conscious of it from the get-go. In doing so, you might even decide that it’s best for your mental health to toss your phone aside for the time being. Depending on your emotional state, picking up a book, going for a walk or calling a friend, might be better options.

Determine Your Motivations

After you have a better understanding of your emotional state, take time to contemplate your motivations for using social media. Are you opening Instagram to check in on an ex? Are you checking Facebook to get a confidence boost from the like count on a photo you posted recently? No matter your motivations, it’s best to be aware of them beforehand. That way, you can choose to either proceed with caution or to come back later, when your motivations have shifted.

Be Conscious of Your Environment

In addition to growing in awareness of your state of mind, it’s also important to be conscious of your external environment before engaging in social media use. Are you at dinner with your family? Or out at a bar with friends?

It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed when you’re in social settings like these, especially if you’re an introvert, but pulling out your phone might not be the best way to withdraw from the environment. Instead, why not try stepping away for a moment? Head to the bathroom and give yourself a couple of minutes to regroup.

All of this goes back to being conscious about your social media use. Stepping away from your friends or family for a few minutes is much better than being physically present, but mentally absent because you’re on social media.