Photo by ANGELA FRANKLIN on Unsplash

Social media has become a very  popular pastime over the past few years, most of us use these websites and applications to share content and to network. Studies are now being conducted to examine a small number of users that engage in social media usage excessively - Don't be that guy, or girl.  

Here's how you can kick social media addiction 

Turn Off Your Notifications and disconnect

Facebook notifications, Twitter notifications, Snapchat notifications, Whatsapp notifications, News notifications, Hangout notifications, Starbucks notifications and it will not stop until every app has a red indicator with a specific number attached to it. I’ve recently noticed that I now receive notifications informing me of other people’s activities. A few years ago I started to keep my phone on silent after I realized how light of a sleeper I was and I could not afford to lose any more sleep due to random notifications however I can still see them, everything is red, everything is demanding your immediate attention.

Turn most of them off!  start with turning them off for a few hours, (maybe during work) then after work while you are unwinding you can review all the juicy details. I remember watching a video of Daymond John warning everyone to not log onto social media within the first hour or so of waking up, which was ironic since I had just woken up when I scrolled across that video.

Spend More Time with Your Loved Ones

Call your Aunt that you haven’t seen in years, have a meaningful conversation, reconnect with your family I often hear people complain about their busy schedules but everyone finds time to do even a quick scroll to catch up with the latest posts or tweets. Plan a trip to see you’re not so immediate family, make it a goal to visit at least once a month or once every two months. Be an active family member by checking on the children and parents.

Spend time indulging in activities that make you happy

There are countless activities that you can indulge in that has nothing to do with social media. You can treat yourself to a mani/pedi session. Spend some time watching your favorite show while enjoying your favorite food. Get a facial, take up a new hobby like bike riding, knitting, candle making or indoor gardening, how many times have you seen someone doing something cool and thought to yourself, “I’ve always wanted to try that” well... try it.  

You can be up to date without indulging, no FOMO

Give yourself time, time to scroll, take it all in and then give yourself time to be aware of your surroundings and be present in the moment.  Set time limits to how long you are allowed to spend scrolling. We have all been there, where we are minding our own business just scrolling down the timeline then boom! you are knee deep in the profile of your friend’s cousins’ neighbor that just landed in Cabo and just posted 10 pictures back to back and you are intrigued, this just cost you 30 minutes you can never get back. Immediately you think to yourself, whew! How did I end up here, then you move on not considering what was just lost. You can skim “important” news, check in on your favorite people and reserve the gossip and eye shopping for the end of the day, think of it as a treat.  

Focus on yourself and your goals.

The way that we interact on social media says a lot about who we really are inside. I always joke and tell my friends that our generation is the last group of people that really understand the difference between social media and real life. I say keep it simple on social media and just be yourself don’t get caught up in the frenzy. Focus on yourself and your goals (offline). Just remember -  Its summer, have fun now, post pictures later ~