Have you ever really sat down and added up the amount of time you spend on social media each day? If you can’t get through a family gathering, more than 2 hours with your children or a night with your spouse without checking your device; then you might be more disconnected than you realise.
In this time and age, technology and social media are wonderful tools that help us in so many ways. whether it’s keeping distant relatives up to date on your life, staying connected with old friends, keeping in touch with important and sometimes weird and wacky news and in my case, for work. I believe that using these tools are important and we can learn so much from this ever growing technology, now more than ever. However, social media can be loosely described as an addictive drug.
It’s so easy to slip down that slope and cross from a path of keeping in touch to a path of addiction and obsession. It can be unhealthy for you as a whole, your relationships and it can also affect the people around you in a negative way. Identifying the issue is the first step, so below we have a few key signs that might indicate that you have a slight addiction; but don’t worry, for every problem has a solution and we will touch on ways to help later in this article.
Signs You’re Addicted To Social Media
- The first thing you do when you wake up is check your phone.
- You stay on social media sites after you climb into bed at night.
- People have to repeat themselves more than once when talking to you because you were reading or watching something on your phone.
- You feel upset or disappointing if your photo or post doesn’t get as many likes as you had hoped for.
- You “check-in” at every place you go to, even on your lunch breaks.
- You can count on one hand how many hours you spent actually playing with your children today vs social media.
- Leaving your phone in the car at a family gathering is not an option.
- Everyone on your friends list knows exactly what you ate today, they chose what you wore to a function or they know why you and your friend/spouse are fighting.
- Life is pretty much over if you have no Wifi or cellular service.
- Your spouse or children tell you your addicted.
If a few of the above points ring a bell with you then you might be on the path to becoming addicted. Sometimes it’s hard to notice when you’ve crossed that line but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard to jump back over. Below we have a couple of tips that help plug you back into the real world and start reconnecting those relationships that might be struggling. This slight disconnection from social media will also have a huge impact on your mental health as well.
How To Pull Back From Social Media
- Have your devices charger at least 2 meters from your bedside.
- Leave your phone in your bag and on silent when at a family gathering or visiting a friend.
- Decide on a cut off time to dedicate a certain amount of time each night to your spouse.
- Make a point to start checking your phone only once every 1.5-2 hours when with your children.
- Cut down your status/ photo updates to half of what they used to be and find another focus instead of counting likes.
These 5 quick and simple tips are a great starter point to help you slip back into reality with ease. Improving your mental health by disconnecting from social media will also improve the relationships in your life and soon enough, you’ll find yourself more connected than you’ve ever been!
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