How to maintain a healthy relationship with social media

I don’t know about everyone else but I have a serious social media addiction. I can’t help it. I used to check Facebook once or twice a day, now I’m checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Periscope multiple times an hour to see what’s new, how many comments I have on a new post or how many likes my latest picture has gathered. And while we all know we shouldn’t spend as much time as we do on social media, it’s hard not to when it’s such a big part of our lives and our day to day interaction.

So if you’re like me and think you may have a social media addiction here are some ways to cut back and have a healthier relationship with the social networks.

Set boundaries

I found that by setting set times of when I would check social media made it much easier to cut down. You can just make small changes, like no social media during meal times, or on your commute.

Buy an alarm clock

Most of us use our phones as alarm clocks, but what happens when you turn your alarm off in the morning? You then spend 10 minutes or so browsing Facebook, Intagram, Twitter…

Respond off-line

It’s your friend’s birthday s0 instead of joining the hundreds of others by writing a birthday message on their wall, why not call them up and say Happy Birthday, or send them a card. Much more personal.

Have a purpose

Most of us check social media because we’re bored. But if you’re looking to cut back the time spent on social media sites then ask yourself what the purpose is for checking social media each time you want to. There may be genuine reasons – someone’s posted some wedding or baby pictures but if there isn’t then try and resit the urge by doing something that will boost your mood.

Alter settings

You’ll be less likely to feel the need to check your social media accounts if there are no notifications telling you how many people are commenting on a post you liked, or retweeting your latest tweet or liking your selfie.

But remember Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have been designed to make us repeatedly use them. So don’t feel too bad about your desire to check social media but let me know in the comments below whether these tips have been useful to help you curb that social media addiction.