5 ways to reduce social media distractions and be more productive
American Institute once conducted a survey, and it was found that we touch and unlock our phone 150 times a day and texting while driving is the most common cause of road accidents in the world.
Do you get frequently distracted by social media sites while doing some important work?
American Institute once conducted a survey, and it was found that we touch and unlock our phone 150 times a day and texting while driving is the most common cause of road accidents in the world. If you are highly addicted to social media, then it’s high time for you to quit your distractions of social media sites and focus on the more important and real things that your life offers.
In my previous article, ‘Social media distractions that you must avoid,’ I mentioned some social media distractions that must be avoided if you want to live a more focused life, and in this article, I will provide you some very effective and practical tips which will help you avoid these distractions completely.
Before I provide you the tips, I would like you to learn about these eleven shocking facts about social media:
Way #1
Use an app to block social media sites for a particular period each day:
If you cannot resist your mind from wandering on to social media, then consider using an app to block these addictive social sites. These kinds of apps will not allow you to use your phone for a particular period every day and will help you slow down your usage of these addictive sites, and after their continuous usage, you will get habitual to not using the social sites as frequently as you used to.
Here is a list of six free Apps for both Android and iPhone which will help you in avoiding social media distractions- Apps to prevent social media distractions. You can also install the ‘Stay focused’ extension from the Chrome web store. It will help you avoid social media distractions when you are working on your laptop or PC – Stay focused.
Way #2
Log out every time after every session:
When you get a notification on your laptop or mobile phone from Facebook or Instagram, you can’t help yourself and check out that notification, assuring yourself that you will only visit that site for 02 minutes, satisfy your curiosity and will get back to the work in hand. But before you know it, the 02 minutes that you promised yourself turn into 02 hours of wasted time. To stop this wastage, it is much better to log out of your social media accounts after your every session. This method will help you avoid social media notifications both on your computer and your mobile.
Way #3
Educate yourself:
I think educating yourself on why social media is a bad influence on your life is one of the best solutions to avoiding social media distractions. You can read online articles on the side effects that social media has on your life, watch videos, attend webinars or seek an online consultant. You must make up your mind that using social media excessively is bad for you.
You can also read my article, ‘How to control your mind and control your life,’ in this article, you will get practical tips on how you can control your mind and make it do whatever you want such as avoiding social media distractions.
Way #4
Keep yourself busy at the time when you use social media the most:
Some people have a habit of using social media at a particular time in a day. For example, if you have a habit of using Facebook from 22:00 to 23:00 every day, then you can keep yourself busy at that particular time every day in some other activity that you like, or you can sleep early in the night to avoid the distractions.
If you have a habit of using social media in the daytime, then you can go for an offline hobby. You can play games, join a gym, read books or hang out with your friends. Try and start at least one hobby that does not require internet or computer. If social media has caused you to physically disconnect with people whom you love, an outdoor hobby might be an excellent way to reconnect with those people.
Way #5
Prioritize your time:
We spend our time in a way that we choose to. When you prioritize your work and decide that you are going to give time to the things that you love doing rather than social media, you allocate your energy to those things and hence you will have less time left to spend on social media. Prepare a list of urgent and important things or the things that you love doing every single day like going to the gym to build a muscular body or studying for your upcoming exams, etc.
Also, make a TO-DO list every night before going to bed of the things that you have to do the next day and keep it next to yourself the next day and refer to it as much as possible as it will help you prioritize your time.
“In order to say ‘YES’ to your priorities, you have to be willing to say ‘NO’ to everything else.”
-ANONYMOUS
The message:-
I know playing games, chatting, and surfing the feeds on Facebook is a lot of fun. But if you are extensively hooked on these social sites then it’s high time to step back. Everything has its pros and cons. Social media can make the world a better place, but for that, we must learn to use it wisely. Keep a careful eye on the information you update on social media and do not waste too much time on social media.
“Social media is like clay; one can make a devil or an angel out of it.”
