How many times do you check social media apps without any intention or reason? Mindless social media usage can waste time and lower your mood.
But, there is a way you can use social media more mindfully. Let's explore how you can become more mindful when using social media apps, so you can eliminate your bad scrolling habits for good.
1. Schedule Time to Use Social Media
Setting aside a specific time to use social media helps you reduce the number of times you open the apps randomly. If you’re on a schedule, you’re more likely to prioritize what needs checking and avoid mindless scrolling.
Google Calendar offers an easy way to set up recurring events. Simply create a new event, choose a time to check social media daily, and then tap the circular arrow button. Now, select the Every day option to schedule a daily slot to check social media apps.
This tip is especially helpful if you check your phone too often. It will also help you avoid frequent interruptions at work. Distractions can wait until your scheduled time. When choosing a time, it’s worth knowing why you shouldn’t check your phone first thing in the morning.
2. Tweak Your Notifications
Many social media apps send notifications, some of which aren't really relevant. While some notifications can be useful, such as group updates, you likely don’t need to receive a notification for every like gained on your post.
You can change the types of notifications you receive in different apps in your device's settings. For Android users, head to Settings > Apps, then locate the app from the list. Select Notifications, then scroll down to in-app categories. You can also manage annoying notifications on your iPhone.
Push notifications are another opportunity to become distracted when using your mobile. You can’t control when you receive them. So, it can harm your productivity levels if you receive notifications while doing important tasks.
3. Unfollow Unnecessary Contacts
If you want to get rid of your unproductive tech habits and limit your social media usage, you can customize your social media experience. Unfollowing unnecessary contacts allows you to limit content that doesn’t align with your priorities. If you’re an Instagram user, it will also reduce the volume of content on your main feed, meaning there’s less to check.
To see who you follow on Instagram, head to your profile and hit your Following count. Underneath the Categories heading, there’s a tab for people you’ve least interacted with. You can unfollow unnecessary contacts from here or use the list below. The list features a useful Sort By tool allowing you to easily view contacts you followed the earliest. This is an easy way to delete old contacts.
On Facebook, you can unfriend people and unfollow pages and groups that you no longer want updates from.
4. Optimize Your Feed Using Favorites
Instagram and Facebook both allow you to set Favorites from the accounts you follow. This is another way you can reduce distracting content and use social media more mindfully. You can improve your productivity further by favoriting accounts that are related to your work, goals, or career.
To manage Favorites on Instagram, head to your profile page, then hit the hamburger menu in the top right corner. Now, select Favorites to see a list of your current favorites and add new accounts.
Instagram also lets you view posts from your favorites only. This creates a minimal experience and greatly reduces the amount of content to check. To set this option, hit the dropdown button next to the Instagram logo on the homepage. Then, select Favorites.
5. Set App Timers
If you use social media without setting time limits, you’re more likely to develop bad habits like doomscrolling. In the worst case, social media addiction may become an issue. You can stop these bad habits by setting timers to limit your usage of social media apps.
If you’re an Android user, you can set app timers by navigating to the Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls section on your device’s settings. From the dashboard, select App timers, then pick a social media app to set a timer. For iOS users, you’ll need to set a screen time passcode before adding app timers. Head to Settings > Screen Time, enter your passcode, and then select App Limits.
With app timer limits in place, you’ll increase your awareness when on social media apps and become more mindful of how you’re using them. It will also improve your time management skills.
6. Disable App Icon Badges
Social media apps do a great job of grabbing your attention while you’re using them. But they can also steal your attention when you’re not using them. You can protect your attention and be more mindful by turning off app notification badges.
To turn off notification badges on Android, navigate to Settings > Notifications, then go to Advanced Settings. From here, hit the toggle button next to the App Icon Badges option. You can also remove red notification badges from the iPhone messages app and other social media apps.
7. Log Out After Using Social Media Apps
As with other apps, social media apps keep you signed in after using them for better ease of access. However, this can lead to you using social media unintentionally.
One trick to help you use social media more mindfully is to sign out whenever you’ve finished using an app. You can sign out of nearly all social media apps by navigating to the app’s settings and searching near the bottom of the page.
If you sign out after using social media apps, you’ll likely sign in only when you know there is something important to check. This can help you avoid procrastination and will make you more aware of your social media habits.
Use Social Media Mindfully For a Healthier Online Lifestyle
Although social media is useful for interacting with friends, there are many less helpful tools on social media that can harm your productivity and lower your mood.
You can easily transition to a healthier social media lifestyle by exploring some of these tips. End your mindless usage habits and discover how to use social media with a greater purpose in this guide.