Easy ways to wean yourself off social media apps.
How often do you open your smartphone and suddenly find yourself having lost 30 minutes or perhaps hours of your day? It’s all too easy to click on an app and scroll for more than just a few minutes. Modern devices and social media platforms are designed to hook you in and keep you engaged. However, this can lead to lost productivity, poor mental health, and even behavioral addictions to technology. To scale back on your social media usage, here are some easy tips.
Change notification settings
When you’re constantly getting pinged with messages from social media apps, it’s all the more tempting to check them. Go into notification settings on your devices – smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops – and turn everything off that’s not essential. Notifications appearing as red dots next to your app icons are visual cues begging you to check them.
Get a real alarm clock
Many people sleep with their phone next to their bed because they use it as an alarm clock. However, this leads to scrolling on apps late at night and first thing in the morning. The best way to cut out this wasted time is to buy a real alarm clock so your wake up isn’t tied to your device.
Set social boundaries
One key missing from the way many of us use technology is etiquette. When is it appropriate to have your smartphone out and when is it considered rude? When you’re having a conversation with someone, resist the urge to pull out your phone, which can be a rude and unhealthy behavior. A good habit to get into is to ban devices from tables during meals, whether it’s in a restaurant or at home.
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