The Art of Social Media Detoxification

Social Media is a modern phenomenon that has completely taken over the world. Believe it or not, but much of our happiness, sadness, anxiety, etc. roots from social media. The habit of mindlessly scrolling through our Instagram or Facebook has reduced our intellectual capacity and hugely affected our attention span. And this is the least of the problems caused by social media. There are umpteen researches that show that the constant usage of social media has made a lot of people develop mental health problems such as anxiety, etc. These are all serious issues and yet people aren't taking it seriously. The comfort and convenience of technology have made us put a blind eye to its many drawbacks.

But such is the world we live in that it's almost impossible to not be on social media. Social Media has taken such control over our lives that now many people depend on it for their jobs, business opportunities, networking, romantic relationships, etc. In a situation like this, one cannot abandon social media. But there is a way to battle the dilemma of social media. It is Social Media Detoxification. The way it works is you develop small habits that accumulate to give large benefits and help you control your social media usage and screen time. Our brains aren't designed to consume content, news, information, etc. at all times and hence detoxification is a healthy way to give relief to your brain. Now let's have a look at some useful social media detox tips.

1. Turning off All Your Notification

Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways to reduce your social media usage. The notification feature is one of the many fangs that techies and devs use to forever keep you engaged with whatever's happening around you. Most of it is, believe or not, useless information. Hence turning your notification off will help you not pick your phone up every time there is a ding.

2. Keep Your Phone Away From You While Sleeping

Most of us keep our phones next to our pillows which is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Doing so compels us to pick our phones the moment we wake up. Checking your social media early in the morning isn't a great idea at all since it takes your body a while to really wake up from sleep and exposing our brains to all the news right after waking up is the worst thing to do. So the simple thing to do is to keep your phone outside of your room or at a place where you can't reach easily when you wake up. Anything but your bed would do.

3. Start A New Hobby

The main reason why we all are so obsessed with social media is that it's the fastest way to get a dopamine hit. Now there are other exciting and healthy ways too. Building a new hobby is one.

4. Delete Social Media Apps for a while

You may not realize but every time you wait for the elevator or are standing in a line, your hand reaches for your phone and the first thing we do is check our social media. Now I understand it's hard to completely abandon social media, but you can do it at a smaller level. Just delete some apps in the morning and re-install them at night. Notice how drastically things change for you.