- Keep your intentions clear:
Don’t open your social media and start browsing mindlessly. Ask yourself “What am I opening it for?”, “Is it just to kill time or is it really necessary?”. Unless you have an important task to do like catch up with your family members who are miles away or call your friend that you haven’t talked to in a while, or find a specific information, don’t open it.
- Don’t check your social media right after waking up:
If it is that urgent then people will give you a call. So don’t worry about missing out on an important thing. Don’t check your phone until an hour after you wake up. Give yourself time to actually wake up and do other productive things that will make you feel good and prepared to conquer the day.
- Don’t use your phone 30 minutes prior to your bedtime:
You might easily end up scrolling through your feed until 1 am when you just wanted it for 5 minutes at 10 pm. So, keep your phone out of your reach 30 minutes prior to your bedtime. Place it somewhere where you cannot reach from your bed. This can be effective to avoid your laziness and to go to bed with a happy mind.
- Set aside specific time to use social media:
Make a routine and stick with it. Be strict and smart while setting aside time. Maybe making time for social media right before you have another thing that is important and you love to do will help you stick with your time limit.
- Turn off your notifications while working/ studying
I do this all the time and it works for me! If your phone is nearby and is ringing it is easy for you to just open and then hang on it. But, if you keep your phone away or mute it, you won’t bother going all the way just to have a quick check. Or at least make yourself comfortable where you sit, so that you don’t feel like reaching out to the phone.
- Keep your phone apps to a minimum:
The more apps you have, the more distractions you create for yourself. Try to keep your phone organized with apps that are really necessary. If you want to use social media for communication then just keep the apps that your family members and colleagues use to communicate.
- Don’t keep the apps that you are addicted to on your home screen:
I learned this tip from a blog at medium and wanted to share it with you guys. According to the blog, “By not keeping apps you are addicted to in the home screen, you give yourself time to think if it is really necessary to open that app.”
- Distract yourself by writing:
Sometimes, even if you are aware of the consequences, you want to do it for one last time or so. You can try to write a journal to control/ distract yourself. Confused how to get started? Don’t worry. You can read our guide on how to start Journaling.