I knew I was addicted to my phone/ social media when my five-year-old news was imitating me. She ran across the room, sat on the couch and pretend scrolled a phone (the palm of her hand).
What that seemed to me was that my phone was attached to my hand and that scrolling was some sort of spontaneous activity to me.
On average, young adults spend about nine hours per day on social media. You wake up and the first thing you do is reach for your phone to update yourself on what you might have missed while you were asleep. One notification leads you to your Instagram where you end up scrolling meaninglessly.
Before you know it, you’ve spent hours online and you promise yourself that tomorrow will be different but it doesn’t and the cycle continues.
Social media is meant to keep you engaged. Engaging on the social platform gives you a dopamine high which keeps you going back for more. What it does in return is breeding feelings of lack, need and competition. It also stirs up feelings of unhappiness and self-doubt.
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It is also a great adversary to those on their self-discovery journey. It feeds you a myriad of information that you absorb both consciously and unconsciously. You end up having dreams and aspirations that you aren’t sure are yours or have been fed to you by what you consume.
You however can get yourself out of the muddle with this few tips:
Set limits
Using an app that allows you to track your time spent on an app like ActionDash which helps you track time you’ve spent on certain apps and restricts you once you’ve exhausted your time limit for the day.
Swapping old habits
James Clear in his book Atomic Habits says that the most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve but on who you wish to become.
If you wish to spend less time on social media or on your phone, replace the time you would have spent on your phone doing something else. You can choose to learn a new skill or read a book. If you don’t fill the void with something else, you will relapse.
Deleting social apps
Out of sight out of mind. Deleting social apps will help you resist the urge to access social media. Turning off notifications will shield you from developing the curiosity of everything that is happening on the social platforms.
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Engage in other activities
Get a new hobby. A physical hobby is much better. It will help you become physically in touch with friends and family and give you a clear headspace.
Remember not to strive for radical change but work consistently on the small habits which will have a greater impact.
