Do you know how much time you spend on your phone? I started paying attention to how much time I spend on my phone and specifically social media earlier this year. For example most of the time I am at an average of 2-3 hours daily on Social Media and 2 hours on Reading & Reference. That’s already about 5 hours daily that I am on my phone.
I love technology. I love social media and what it does for us in terms of getting positive messages out, motivating each other, and staying connected. At the same time we all know and recognize that social media has a dark side. Look, I know that this isn’t rocket science. It’s more like going back to the basics. It’s a reminder of something we all know but don’t always do. To make sure we are aware of how much time we spend so we can recognize where our opportunities to get more impactful things done.
The next time you find yourself wasting time on social media I want you to try this:
- Clean out your follow list. Unfollow accounts that trigger you to compare your life, that don’t add positivity or that distract you for hours.
- Turn your notifications off. This helps with not looking at your phone every time an app wants your attention. I haven’t had my notifications on for a couple years now. At least when I get on my phone it’s because I chose not to because I’m being told to.
- Set aside time when you allow yourself time to scroll. It’s okay to take time to entertain yourself, like friends pictures or go down the youtube rabbit hole. Just set a reasonable time and then put the phone down when the time comes.
- Utilize your phones tools. Set aside time to be off. I’m not sure about Android but iPhone has a built in “Downtime” where you can schedule a time to be away from your phone. There are many free apps as well. You can also just shut your phone off for an hour or two.
- Take a break all together. I often take a break every few months for a week. I delete all social media apps and don’t check anything on my computer. This doesn’t work for everyone but for me it’s gives a time to reset.
Overwhelm comes from the time we think we don’t have. We know we have so much to do but then we end up wasting and filling time with things that are not helping us get things done.
For kicks and giggles try one of the things I suggested. Take notice of how much time you spend on social media this coming week. Share with me what you notice!
