Edition: February 6th, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts from article by Juliana Ukiomogbe, published on Insider
Have you ever wanted to take a break from your phone but found it difficult to resist the urge to constantly check social media? Around the world, about 3.96 billion people use social media, spending an average of 144 minutes on it every day.
Because these social networking sites are known to lure you in and keep you addicted, it’s imperative to learn how to take a break from social media.
Why it’s important to take a break from social media
From a health perspective, social media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helps us stay connected to each other and combat loneliness, which could be good for our health since studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness can negatively impact health. On the other hand, social media is often associated with cyberbullying, social comparison, and other phenomena that can be detrimental to our health and wellbeing.
Neha Chaudhary, MD, child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
- To ensure that social media has a positive impact on your health, it’s important to be conscious of how you’re using it. That means knowing when to take a break and direct your attention elsewhere.
- Remember that social media promotes sedentary behaviour.
- Even though you may be talking to friends, social media limits your capacity for face-to-face interactions and makes you spend less time out in the real world and more time on your phone or computer.
- Social media may cause feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression if you find yourself comparing other people’s lives to yours.
Signs you should take a break now
Here are 5 key signs that may indicate it’s time for you to take a break from social media:
1. It’s not fun anymore
- Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are meant to be a fun and enjoyable way to connect with family and friends.
- If you find that it’s no longer a source of joy and connection in your life, it may be a sign to take a break.
2. You’re comparing yourself to others
- If you are feeling like you aren’t good enough, pretty enough, or successful enough while consuming what’s in your news feed, you should consider taking a break.
- If you find that you feel worse about yourself after you’re on social media, then it’s not a resource that is adding to your emotional well-being.
3. You’re ‘doomscrolling‘
- Doomscrolling occurs when you find yourself mindlessly, and continuously, scrolling through social media sites.
- You may doomscroll because you feel the need to constantly know everything that’s happening in the world— from news to trending topics.
- You may not even realise you’re doing it until a huge lapse of time has passed and you’re still sitting in the same position on your phone or computer!
4. It’s the last thing you see at night
- Looking at your phone before bed may be disrupting your sleep because it keeps your mind active and awake.
- The blue light from your cell phone suppresses melatonin, which is a hormone responsible for controlling sleep.
- Since blue light is an artificial color that imitates daylight, your body will think it’s daytime and keep you energised, thus resisting the urge to wind down for sleep.
5. It’s no more an enjoyable activity but a need
- If you’re occasionally using it to stay connected or otherwise enhance your life, that’s a nice-to-have.
- But, if you’re using it as an unhealthy way to cope with underlying anxiety or feeling yourself becoming distressed if you haven’t checked it in a while, those may be signs that you need a break.
How to create healthy boundaries
If you want to effectively take a break, you’ll have to be intentional about it. If necessary, seek help from a friend or family member to keep you accountable.
Here are 5 tips to help you take a break from social media — and stick to it:
1. Turn off your notifications
- When you get a notification for a “like” or “comment” on a post, it results in a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.
- This stimulus, also associated with drug use, will result in a release of dopamine.
- This dopamine rush can cause addictive feelings and may make it hard to avoid social media.
- The constant beeping and buzzing may also make you more likely to check your phone.
- Turning off notifications can help you actually stick to your social media break.
2. Prioritise self-care
- It can be especially helpful to replace your social media use with other mood-boosting activities that don’t require your phone.
- When you get that urge to check your phone and start scrolling, try one of these other healthy options instead:
- Set up time to hang out with friends in person
- Go for a walk, hike, or bike ride
- Cook your favorite meal
- Journal for 15 minutes
3. Allot time to use social media
- Identify what content leaves you feeling better and which makes you feel worse. Surf accordingly.
- Understand your tipping point — when the activity stops being enjoyable and starts causing anxiety or other negative feelings.
- That tipping point is going to be different for everyone.
4. Put your phone away at night so that you don’t scroll while in bed
- This can help you avoid the urge to start scrolling if you can’t fall asleep.
- Chances are it will also allow you to get better sleep, which can improve your health and combat other negative side effects of excessive social media use, such as loneliness or depression.
5. Use social media-limiting apps
- These apps help you focus on your work & personal life by eliminating the internet and virtual distractions.
- Whenever you want to concentrate on something important or gain productivity, you can schedule focus time.
- During this time, all social media apps & unwanted notifications will automatically be blocked.
- You can keep a check on app time usage by setting a reminder, whenever you exceed the set time limit, the smartphone trackers alert you by sending constant notifications.
Spending too much time on your phone can contribute to low self-esteem, loneliness, and depression. Putting your phone down may help in alleviating some of these feelings. It’s healthy to take a break from social media to give time for emotional well-being practices.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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