How To Unplug From Social Media.

The average teenager spends a staggering nine hours a day on social media! Whilst this seems crazy to many hard working adults it’s a reality that most teenagers know no different!

It might not be wise to be so quick to judge these inbetweeners, you may be surprised to hear that the average adult spends approximately two hours on social media per day, and more surprisingly over five hours watching tv per day! That’s a staggering seven hours of screen time per day for the average adult!

 In this post, we discuss some need to know tips on how to unplug from social media, how to live unplugged and find time in your life for things you have always wanted to do like:

  • Write a best-selling book.
  • Take up golf.
  • Become a black belt in Martial Arts.
  • Run up a mountain.
  • Keep in touch with friends and family more often.
  • Volunteer for a charity.
  • Travel the world. 
  • Experience real life adventures.
  • Spend quality time with the kids.
  • Start a business.
  • Read more books
  • Help others.
  • Start a blog.
  • Meditate.
  • Visit friends.
 
 If you are making the excuse that you haven’t got time to get started on your goals, then think again!
 You really have more spare time than you think!
 
Society has found itself sucked into a technology black hole.
It is the age of the selfie generation where people contort their faces into an unrecognisable form with other self-obsessed selfie-takers in a never-ending social media battle of the selfies.
 
We have a Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, the Instagram generation where some people can’t go out for a meal without posting photos of their food, their first drink of the evening, or the full-length selfie of the outfit they are wearing.
 
People can’t climb a mountain, go for a family day out or visit the park, without making sure everyone knows they were there.
 
Then we have the gaming generation who play games which are so addictive,  that people are unable to tear themselves away long enough to eat a meal with the family.
 
We have a never-ending stream of television which bombards us with hundreds of thousands of adverts,  which we can live pause, rewind, repeat.
 
Consider the effect unplugging from technology could have on your quality of life and schedule. Without hours spent on social media think of all the hours you will snatch back for yourself!
 
 
 
 

Signs you may need to unplug from social media.

 
  • The first thing you reach for in the morning is your phone
  • You get upset when someone hasn’t liked your status update 
  • You record every minute of your family day out on social media 
  • You contrive photos with filters or clever editing to make yourself look better on social media.
  • You compare yourself to others on social media
  • You keep checking your phone whilst you’re at work 
  • You check your phone in bed 
  • You check your phone at the dinner table 
  • You update your status on holiday or at the airport to tell everyone your away ( including burglers! )
  • You know everybody else’s business
  • You’re a bit judgy of other people due to what they post on social media.
 
Social media is not a bad thing, I use it to stay in touch will family members all over the world and also to chat with other bloggers in my niche. So I’m fully aware of the huge benefits of social media.
 
However it seems we are in a world where everyone is in a rush, has no time and is disconnected from other people. The purpose of this post is to show you ways to find more time to reconnect by unplugging from social media for a few hours a day or a few days a week. 
 
many times we find ourselves procrastinating over something important and social media makes this easy for us. we beat ourselves up that we’ve missed a deadline or forgotten to make a phone call yet we have wasted hours that day checking our  top  five social media accounts, there is no better way to waste time and procrastinate than social media, its a quick feel-good fix, a way to gossip,  and an escape from real life .
 
It is also a major time drain, bleeding minutes and hours from your day stopping you from doing the things which matter most to you at work and at home. It’s time to claim back your time!
 
 
 

Reasons to unplug from social media 

There are many positive reasons to unplug from social media

  •  You can spend much more quality time with the family and be appreciative of the things they’ve done that day, you’ll start to take an interest in how they feel about things and you’ll become more connected.

 

  •  You can exercise more, you’ll have several hours in the day to fill, now your spending your life unplugged you can get the kids out on their bikes, out for a run or a swim.

 

  • You can spend more time outdoors, getting out for a walk, a run or a day out at the beach is much more energising than sitting in front of technology or a TV screen.

 

 

  • You have more free time to relax in the bath or read a book. Many parents complain that they have no time to read a book but they spend several hours on social media each day. Let’s get back to the basics and kick-start your love of reading!

 

  • You’ll be more relaxed.  Even though you use technology as a way to relax it doesn’t allow your brain to switch off, it actually acts as a stimulant! Meditation, reading or simply chatting with your spouse will help you rewind, relax and recharge.
 
 
 

 How to unplug from social media

Unplugging from social media can be hard if you are addicted to technology,  follow these tips to unplug from social media and start unplugging from society!

 

  •  Give up one thing at a time, don’t try to get rid of all your social media accounts at one time, try just stopping twitter, for instance, one week, then facebook the week after and so forth. going cold turkey all at once will probably be too hard to stick to long-term. You should be trying to change your social media habits a bit at a time.

 

  • Try Deleting your Facebook or Instagram app on your phone, this will stop you randomly picking up your phone to check your social media accounts. if you have to log onto your desktop to check your accounts you will spend less time on social media.

 

  • If you’re struggling to unplug from social media, put your phone in a drawer and leave it there for a few hours untouched.  Do something constructive from your to-do list and make a note of how much more you get done in that time.

 

  • Watch one programme then switch off the TV. Free up five hours a day by switching off the TV after you’ve watched your chosen programme and free up some of your time to get on with something else!

 

  • Have a ‘no phone in bed’ rule and stick to it. Read a book, have a pamper and spend that time chilling out and relaxing. Keep the phone out of the bedroom and keep the hour before bed social media free!

 

  • Take the TV out of the bedroom. Turn your bedroom into a spa, light some candles, play some relaxing music and pamper yourself or read a book before bed.

 

  • Stop taking selfies and start taking photos of your family instead, that’s where the real memories are. Social media is full of people trying to take the perfect selfie with the perfect filter to make themselves look ten years younger. Everyone who knows you knows you don’t look like that at the school gates in the morning. Enjoy the park or the meal without recording your every move for people who don’t care anyway. 

 

  • Turn off notifications for everything. News, Facebook, Email, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, turn them all off and you’ll not be tempted to check your phone twenty times an hour!

 

  • Try leaving your phone in the car or at home when you go out. This is one of my favourite ways to unplug from social media as it encourages me to reconnect with people I’m meeting, especially if I’m going out for a meal. It also stops the urge to post selfies of your beer or meal!

 

  • Find some time to switch off your phone and enjoy doing something else instead. Switch it off, unplug and find something else to do, try it for just an hour a day then increase the time daily.  youll be surprised how good it feels to be free of that little black box of time sucking tricks!

 

  • Be yourself, smile in photos,  in ten years time you won’t want to see pictures of yourself with a snapchat filter or a pout. Chill out, be you.

 

  •  Eat with the family, enjoy your food and drink uninterrupted by selfies, texts and calls. Have a no phone at the table rule, chat ask questions and enjoy your time together.

 

  •  Visit nice places without having to worry about updating your status or posting an amazing Instagram post.

 

  •  Spend time with the kids without letting everyone know what an amazing parent you are. Leave your kids off social media, it’s not a competition to prove that you’re a better parent than everyone else.

 

Stop wasting time on social media, watching TV or taking selfies and see how much time you gain in your day to do the things you’ve always dreamed of!

 

What are the benefits of unplugging from social media?

There are huge benefits of  disconnecting from social media and cutting down your screen time :

  • You’ll create so much more time to do the things on your todo list.
  • You’ll enjoy the little moments and create real life memories with your family.
  • You’ll stop worrying about what other people think, and you’ll find yourself living in the moment.
  • You’ll stop competing with other people and imagining that their life is better than yours.
  • You’ll stop judging other people by their photos or status updates.
  •  When you stop comparing yourself to the false social media images you see, you’ll stop complaining about not having material things, going on flash holidays and you’ll begin to realise that you’ve got everything you need if you have your family and good health.

 

 

Frequently asked Q&A

How do you help your kids unplug from technology? Try to create screen time after all their homework, shower, room tidying and reading is done, this gives them an incentive to get their jobs done before screen time rather than the other way round for a screen time responsibility chart check out this post.  Encourage your kids to get outside by planning fun activities for the mornings during the weekends and holidays. Getting your kids involved in sports gets them off the couch too!

 

How do I stop using social media during studying? All of the tips above should help you to unplug from social media during study periods. It may also be a good idea use a time management method, set 25 minute study periods followed by short breaks, this is called the  Pomodoro Technique.

 

 

 

 
For amazing advice about meditation and mindfulness techniques head over to Jennifer at Help Mama Meditate!
 
 
 
Do you have any tips you use to unplug from social media? We’d love to hear your tips, leave us a comment below!

 


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