If anyone asks you right now what you value most, you might answer quite a few generic stuff like family, friendship, relationships, and so on. However, your actions might surprise you. Digging into your habit might show you a different result.
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If you search on the real-time log of your life events, you might notice that you haven’t built productive days or weeks. That is because, in reality, you spend more time scrolling social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and other social media apps. You might not care to admit it, but this habit takes so much time that you just do not notice.
Social media can still bring a lot of benefits. However, it comes with a drawback. According to research, it can make us less happy person. When we spend a lot of time scrolling through our feeds containing meticulously crafted posts that show us the amazing and almost perfect lives of other people, these highlights sometimes make us compare our lives to theirs subconsciously. We begin to compare what we have to what others have, which genuinely puts a damper on our happiness.
It is safe to say that we spend a lot of time on these social media apps instead of living in the real world with a more rational birds-eye view. With that, the benefits of these therapist-approved ways of breaking social media addiction come in handy.
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Tip #1: Turn Off Notifications
Turning off our notifications is one step to getting rid of social media addiction. This method can stop us from developing a habit of constantly checking our phones. Well, there’s nothing wrong with checking quite a few messages. But when we reduce the habit of constantly picking up our phone whenever we hear a popping sound, we can establish a greater mental defense and focus more on our uninterrupted time. Thus, it will give us a boost in concentration to get our work done.
Tip #2: Use The Apps On A Specific Time Of The Day
The problem with social media apps is that they can become entirely pervasive. Due to the easy access through our phones, we can get to them easily anytime we want. To avoid that, we should only use the apps at a specific time of the day. It can help limit our use and become aware of our schedules during the day. It can help us avoid procrastinating and keep us away from an extended period of scrolling and video watching.
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Tip #3: Create A To-Do List
One essential factor that can help us eliminate social media addiction is working on something productive. Creating a to-do list and trying to accomplish it within the day can prevent us from thinking about using the apps. But what if our tasks involve using social media platforms? Well, we can always create a checklist of the things we need to get done and work first on the stuff that does not require us to use our phones. And when working, we should go back to tip # 1.
Tip #4: Use It As A Reward
It might sound unconvincing since most of us consider using social media apps as a reward for relaxation. But using social media should have to be something we don’t crave but deserve. The best way to do that is to set our minds to finishing a goal so that we can use the app after something has been accomplished. We have to be more adamant in that process.
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Tip #5: Spend Free Time On Different Things
We often use our phones in our free time because of social media apps. We enjoy watching clips and scrolling through newsfeeds. But why not? Instead of doing that, we spend our free time on different things like going outside, hanging out with friends, reading a book, playing an instrument, and organizing. Why not take our phones away and live our lives without constantly checking other people’s posts on the app?
Final Thoughts
When someone suggests that we quit social media, honestly, that’s not quite an effective way. Quitting is not a good option since technology is what we live for today. Thus, advocating for moderation is what we should focus on. Let’s admit it; it is entirely a tedious process to instantly cut off something that we are already used to. By doing that without warning, we might end up craving for more or become undetached to the habit.
To make moderation more achievable, we should prioritize our goals so that we won’t have to make an excuse and fool ourselves into using social media. If these tips aren’t working, we should also consider seeking professional help.
Social media addiction might not be a problem now. But if it affects our lives, we should consider therapy treatments once and for all.