How much time do you spend browsing through social media? Most people would agree that they put too many hours into their screens and not enough doing more important things.
The average person spends 2 hours and 22 minutes a day using social platforms. But with the recent coronavirus pandemic, that number is even higher. People have more time to post Facebook statuses, publish tweets, and upload to Instagram.
But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Spending too much time on social media prevents you from achieving your personal goals and being productive. Before you know it, you’ve wasted hours scrolling on your phone while your needs stay neglected.
If you’re looking for ways to reduce your screen time, here are four tactics to help you get started.
Acknowledge The Problem
To overcome your obstacles, you must first acknowledge them. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists, so coming face to face with the issue needs to happen. Otherwise, you’ll glaze over it without solving it from the bottom up.
You can start acknowledging your excessive screen time by tracking it. Most smartphones have the ability to view your screen time, including time spent on specific apps. That way, you know exactly where your time is going and which apps you’re getting the most and least use out of. Be mindful every time you pick up your phone. Do you really need it right now or can it wait?
Delete Unnecessary Apps
It’s enticing to watch TikTok videos and engage with people on Facebook, but there’s a time and place for that. If you spend hour after hour each day mindlessly scrolling through your mobile apps, then it’s time for a social media detox.
The easiest way to remove yourself from spending time on apps is to delete them. Whether you realize it or not, you spend more time on useless apps than you know. While it’s important to have entertainment, it shouldn’t take up so much time. If you’re neglecting other aspects of your life, then a cutback is necessary.
Keep Yourself Busy
When you spend a lot of time being idle, it limits your ability to think outside the box. You can’t boost your creativity unless you experience different things and open yourself up to new possibilities. Endlessly consuming social media content makes it challenging to be imaginative and leaves you feeling lethargic.
So, it’s vital to learn how to stay busy doing things that improve your overall wellbeing. You can start by setting small, realistic goals for yourself. At first, you may set a goal to spend 2 total hours on social media per day. A week later, you could reduce it to 90 minutes. As time goes on, you spend less time on your phone and more time doing other activities.
Listen to podcasts both for entertainment and learning purposes. There are podcasts in every genre you can think of, so there’s something for everyone. Call that friend you’ve been meaning to get in touch with. Read a book you’ve been putting off for months. Make time for the things that add meaning to your life and you’ll feel it improve.
Stick to a Schedule
If something matters, you need to add it to your schedule. And if you don’t have a schedule, you need to create one. Developing routines is the key to achieving your goals and maintaining consistency. It’s much easier to reduce your time on social media when you know you have other things planned to do.
Treat your time with importance. If you need to send emails or perform other screen-related tasks, do so in the proper time out of respect for your health and wellbeing. Using the opportunity to invest in your passions and develop a new skill will take you much farther than updating your status online.
Your Turn
We spend so much time consumed in other people’s lives on social media that we forget to live our own. It can wreak havoc on your mental, emotional, and physical health, so it’s important to take the issue seriously. Spending time away from your screen helps declutter your brain and organize your mind. It’s also good to put that time and energy into you so you can become the best version of yourself. How will you reduce your social media screen time?