Tools for Social Media

Social media can be a truly draining experience at the best of times. So I’ve been working on adjusting the amount of time I spend on social media and how I am using it. I wanted to share the tools and techniques that have worked for me.

  1. Delete the apps from your phone.

I’ve removed twitter and facebook from my phone. I can still use my broswer to log in but its not as convenient so I’m less likely to do it. For me, I’ve kept facebook messenger and instagram because those are still useful for me, but do what works best for you.

2. Block social media

I open a new tab and automatically start typing twitter or facebook into the url box, even if that wasn’t what I wanted to do! Habits move me on auto-pilot and suddenly it’s been an hour and I’m doom scrolling twitter still. What I’ve finally found is that I need external help to block the sties.

I’ve come at this with three main apps I’m using:

  • Forest App- On my phone, this wonderful app keeps me from just scrolling through instagram. It allows you to plant a beautiful plant and watch it grow. The trick is that if you navigate away from that app, the plant dies. You can set it from anywhere between 10 minutes to two hours. I set it to two hours when I get into bed and it stops me from getting on my phone when I’m trying to go to bed.

  • SelfControl- This mac only software is amazing and terrifying. It’s the big dog and the most effective. SelfControl will block the websites you specify for a range of time. It locks it down. You can restart your computer, delete the app, etc. and the lockdown remains until the time is up. It’s incredibly effective and free.

  • Work Mode- A chrome extension, Work Mode is perfect when I am on my chromebook. Blocking all major social media sites with a simple click, the extension is effective and unobtrusive. The only issue is that it is also sometimes too easy to unblock the sites with just a click as well.

I’m using these digital helpers and techniques to help limit my time on social media and keep it from destroying my mood and my productivity.