How to break the social media addiction but still be active!
Social media is a great invention and it has been this generation’s privilege to have it, but many are trapped in it. I found few ways to break from the trap by still being active on these platforms!
I use the following Social Media Apps
Here are the few tricks I use to stay out of the social media addiction
Trick 1
I moved all of my social media apps to my secondary device i.e. my iPad and deleted all of the social media from the primary mobile device that I keep with me always.
Why did I do that?
I found myself that whenever I get a moment of free time, I use to pick my iPhone and use to scroll through my feeds and ended up wasting 10 to 20 mins every time and I find myself in the infinity pool!
I found that my social media usage time was exceeding 2 hours a day at some point and when I realized it, I thought this is the time which I could use to fo something else instead of wasting it on social media. I noticed that my primary trigger was a moment of free time or a notification. So by moving all the apps to my secondary device I just overcame all the triggers and I usually keep my iPad a little away from my work desk or buried under a draw so it becomes difficult for me to mindlessly pick it.
Trick 2
Plan social media time in advance in your calendar, it is very important, if don’t plan this time you would end up using social media during the productive time and you will spoil your focus.
I found it very useful to keep 20 mins every day for social media, I usually do it post-dinner. Whenever I have the urge to check my social media, I always think let me do it at the scheduled time.
Trick 3
One highly useful hack in Facebook is to unfollow people while still being their friend. This lets you spam your friends with your updates while being unharmed by their spam! :)
I have almost unfollowed everyone in my friendslist and I follow few specific people who I admire and usually get inspired and motivated by their posts to work hard and do creative things. Usually, if someone is posting about their trips and their political views etc. then as soon as I see their post I unfollow them!
But I do update my Facebook status and provide my links to my Youtube videos and once in a while, I message my friends to keep in touch. In this way, I use Facebook to my advantage.
On Instagram, I follow very few people, I just follow my close cousins and friends and that's it. I follow them because I love them and I feel happy when they post a happy picture. I avoid celebrities or influencers.
I use Twitter to follow few top leaders like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Mark Cuban, and many days I keep Twitter on my primary device because tweets from these powerful people impact the market and if I have invested in some stocks or crypto then it impacts me. I have found myself not being addicted to Twitter so much and I not sure why. I use it very gently to get my word out!
With LinkedIn, I usually have a purpose, I use LinkedIn when I want to reach out to someone but otherwise, I keep it away. Somehow I have associated LinkedIn with my work! All of my colleagues are connected on LinkedIn and as soon as I open it I feel like I am in the office! :) So usually I use it consciously and I don't find myself in the infinity pool!
I hope these tips will help you and also it would be an inspiration for you to come up with your own tricks to help yourself.
