How to Break Free From Your Social Media Addiction

Tags: social mediawork-life balance

Not many people know, but severe forms of social media addiction can cause issues at work, family problems and anxieties. Even if you don’t experience such problems, you may just spend too much time on Facebook or other media, which does reduce your performance in other fields of life and gets you too far from the embodiment of all your dreams. Look deep within yourself and ask – is that what I really want? Is that what I really envisioned my life to be like? After receiving a definitive “no,” you may start wondering how to stop that harmful habit from spoiling your life?

Top 6 tips to follow to break free from social media addiction:

1. Create a list of what you’re sacrificing to spend time on social media. Every minute you spend on social media can be used to spend time with your family or friends or to get closer to the realization of your dreams. Create a list of what you’re sacrificing for the senseless scrolling of data that you forget in 2 minutes of time and you will understand how harmful this habit really is. 
2. Create a list of meaningful alternatives. If your only alternative to social media is watching TV or sleeping, then you have poor reasons to fight your addiction. Obligate yourself to do other things instead of spending time on social media. Volunteer, join the club, go to the gym, read a new bestseller, etc. Do anything that keeps you busy and is better than wasting your time in front of the screen. 
3. Use apps to block social media. Sometimes people just can’t resist social media. In this case, you can consider using apps or software that limit your access to social media websites for a certain period of time. For example, you can try choosing to limit yourself from 5 to 8 PM. 
4. Schedule social media use and utilize it for a purpose. The problem with social media is that it’s being consumed for no purpose. Instead of senselessly surfing Instagram or Twitter, you can schedule time for social media usage and plan activities that you’ll engage into when you use it. For instance, you can schedule three 15-minute visits a day to check and respond to your messages and browse the new content from your favorite groups. 
5. Reward yourself for sticking to your rules. If you’re able to stick to the limits that you’ve set for yourself, you can prepare a small reward. For example, a piece of dark chocolate will be great. 
6. Don’t mindlessly surf late night. You may think, whom can I hurt if I surf at night while everyone is sleeping? First of all, you’re hurting yourself if you really want to get rid of your addiction. Don’t make your addiction stronger simply because no one is watching you.   

I hope these tips will help you to defeat a social networking addiction and regain control of your life!