Use an Alarm When on Social Media and Delete Your Browser’s Data

In an earlier blog, I mentioned planning your distractions. In the blog, I suggested planning 1 or 2 hours for social media alone. During that time you can use social media as you please. Use social media shamelessly but don’t do anything else. Have you planned social media for 90 minutes? Then only use social media for 90 minutes! Oftentimes you will be super aware of the fact that you are actually….just wasting your time. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on social media, and this very fact you will (hopefully) experience. What you can do to make sure you don’t spend more time on social media once social media time is over, is to use an alarm. This can be an alarm on your phone or a kitchen alarm for example. Also, when you use a laptop, make sure you log out from your account and clear your browser’s history, saved passwords, and data. Don’t allow your browser to remember all your online activities and personal information. Create that extra bit of friction. Again: when you actually do plan to use 2 hours for social media, you will hopefully understand that this is way too much. The key is to bring this feeling with you for the rest of your day, so you won’t quickly hop on social media again. When you use social media, make sure you do all the essentials so you don’t need to use it again for that day. Are you communicating with someone? Set the right expectations and inform the person (people) that you are not going to be on standby 24/7. You have things to do. Alternatively, use an IM app like Messenger so you can stay in contact with others, but without any interruptions or temptations from the social media platform.