Photo by Georgia De Lotz on Unsplash
We all know how time consuming social media can be especially when you hop on to respond to a notification and then all of a sudden an hour has gone by. It is one of the biggest distractions when it comes to getting tasks completed and achieving your goals.
The development of social media has been a huge benefit for many reasons, but like anything, there are some down sides to using it, one being that it is a huge distraction. Learning how to balance your use of social media can improve all areas of your life.
What If I Am A Content Creator?
If like me you have a blog and your job is to create content for social media, the risk of unnecessary scrolling can binder your productivity. Unfortunately, as a content creator, you have to be online most of the time; luckily, there are scheduling apps such as Hootsuite or buffer. These apps allow you to schedule social media posts on any day, at any time; this will keep your presence online while you are busy working on other things.
If you are looking for ways to stop wasting time on social media, you have come to the right place! There are small changes that you can make to ensure social media is not hindering your success. I have created 6 suggestions that will enable you to work without wasting time on social media.
1. Find Out How Much Time You Are Wasting On Social Media
In order to know how to tackle you wasting time on social media, you need to know how much time you are actually wasting! Smart phones have a built in tool that tells you how much screen time you use and which social media apps you have spent the most time on. If you are someone who needs statistics and numbers to make a change, using this feature on your phone can give you a great insight into your screen time and social media habits. This could shock you into change!
When I looked at my screen time and how much time I was on social media, I knew that I needed to make a conscious effort to change some of my social media habits.
2. Set Daily Goals
A hack that can help you to avoid wasting time on social media is to set daily goals or tasks. Setting specific daily goals will help you to focus and create a productive mindset. You should always keep your goals in mind when you create your task list. If any of your tasks require you to check social media, it is vital you set alarms to pay attention to the time you are spending on social media. Your goals will motivate you to stay on track.
Read more: How can you achieve your goals with the use of a goal planner
3. Schedule Time For Social Media
Instead of reaching for your phone for social media every time you receive a notification, you schedule time on your day allocated to do exactly that. You can schedule email, text and social media breaks between your work activities. This can help you to stay on track when you are working on tasks on your to-do list.
You can use your planner whether that is a paper or online one to schedule a specific phone/social media break. This practice allows you to stay focused on the task at hand because you will be aware of the break you have scheduled to read through your notifications.
When you are scheduling time for social media, it is important to stick to your allocated time, so you do not risk the endless scrolling. You can schedule these breaks throughout your day. The rest of the time, you should ignore your notifications unless you are waiting on an urgent message.
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
4. Set Alarms Or Timers
Setting an alarm or a timer when you are on social media, can help you stay aware of the time. When you know that the clock is ticking, it leads you to avoid activities that suck away all of your time… like being on social media!
When you have scheduled all your breaks throughout the day, setting an alarm or timer for the time you have allocated e.g. 15 minutes, can stop you from being sucked in to wasting more time. When the alarm goes off, stop and return to your work tasks. Using alarms and timers can be a great strategy especially if you are prone to procrastinating on social media as you will be aware of how much time you are spending on your phone and social media.
5. Turn Off Your Notifications
One thing that can pull you on to social media can be receiving notifications. When you hear that noise and your phone light up you can’t help but wonder what is says and then serious FOMO feelings pull you in. I can be guilty of this a lot! It leads to procrastination and a lot of wasted hours.
When you are working, it is best to be proactive and switch those notifications off. It means you will not be interrupted when you are working through your task list and the urge will be a lot less to pick up your phone and scroll.
Getting a notification, but waiting a while to look at it will also stop the need for an instant response, whether it’s from an email or a social media post. Then, you have our scheduled time to be present in your responses and email replies.
6. Time-Blocking Strategy
As a blogger or content creator, you have to take a lot of time promoting your content on different social media platforms as well as engaging with your audience. It can be really easy to get sucked into that funny video and before you know it, 20 minutes have passed. You need to plan your time on social media effectively.
Time-blocking is used to devote a specified period of time to a task or group of tasks. This time management hack ensure that you accomplish more by moving through one or more tasks on your list without interruptions.
In addition, time-blocking prevents you from losing tie as your brain adjusts to the switch from one project to another. As an example, you may be working on writing a new blog post. To make this method work for you, you should complete all the blog posts that you need to write. This will aid your brain into working faster. Furthermore, it will save you time and means you avoid the breaks between tasks where you may be prone to check your social media.
These are 6 tips that will help you stop wasting time, so that you can achieve more in the time you have. Even making one or two of these changes can boost your productivity.
good post! it can be easy to spend way toooo much time on social media *cough cough* instagram (lol).. but by carving out a time schedule you can easily manage your time. it is such a huge timer sucker & it is essential for content creators but finding that healthy medium can be a challenge
I try to make sure everyday I put my phone down for at least a couple of hours and just be free from social media. I think it’s important to take time away to breathe as, as much as I love social media, it can be a very toxic place to be sometimes. You’ve shared some great tips which I’ll defiantly be taking full advantage of. Thank you so much for sharing lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Great tips! I find it hard to find the balance between using SM for work and pleasure. But my mental health is on the floor at the moment, so my boyfriend has demanded I stop using it as much, especially looking at negative news. I have my app limits turned on but I need to make more of an effort to stick to them x
I’m one of those people who waste time on social media. I told myself I’ll take the necessary photos for my blog and it’s been 2 weeks. I needed to read this.
These are great tips! I find myself wasting too much time on social media every now and then, particularly Instagram because honestly, I don’t use Pintrest, I seldomly use Facebook, and Twitter, I promote my blog and then get back off. I find that shutting off my notifications have helped me cut my screen time down tremendously. Out of sight, out of mind! Thank you for sharing!
Great ideas as always! I allocate some time, early morning and late afternoon, no notifications, etc. to control social media time. I made the mistake of commenting on something political the other day and will not do that again. If you are a blogger, stick to promoting and supporting other bloggers. cheers!
Oh really.. oops! I tend to stay away from anything political because of the arguments that can happen. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve had to set goals for myself because otherwise I just cause myself more stress looking at my social media again and again. From trying to find work to hearing about the news over and over, it all gets too much.
Such a good post!! Agree with everything on here! Especially turning off notifications – I have my phone permanently on silent so I don’t check it every minute. Need to do better about scheduling time those are great tips thanks for sharing!
These are some great tips! I recently deactivated my instagram and it feels great having that time back, I used to waste just scrolling.
I spend 20 minutes break and this time when I am only allowed to use social media. This also great tips to stop wasting time. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing. Setting a timer is a brilliant idea. I don’t allow myself to go on tiktok until Ive completed my to do list otherwise it drains your time!
Fab tips! I used to be awful at wasting time on social media but I feel like I’m a lot better now – for me setting daily limits on my phone really helped with cutting down the time! I love the idea of turning off notifications too, I must try that. Thanks for sharing x
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Great post! Right now, I am in such a busy season of life, so I have not had time to check my social media. That said, I have found time blocking has helped out a ton!
That’s great you have found something that works for you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I go through cycles of being really good with how I use social media (healthy, balanced) and then wasting so much time on it so this was so helpful for those times!
I have been like that. But I have been using time blocking etc and it has really helped. Thank you for reading and commenting.
These are all great tips because we all spend way too much time on our phones and on social media. Though I have to say I feel like IG has kind of worn off for me, I am pretty tired of it.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
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Gah, I really, really need to get off social media, or just screens in general. This becomes especially important when there’s nothing much to do, and all my mind is thinking of is to default to social media. Anyway, thanks for this post!
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I am constantly amazed how much time goes by every day when I think I have only spent ten minutes doing something and find it was an hour! These are great tips. I think the scheduling of social media posts has been one of my great time savers. Having a husband that says ‘err, you were going to go to the bathroom half an hour ago’ really helps too LOL.
I turned off my notifications years ago. Best thing ever – although FB and IG are much more quiet now so less danger of being interrupted by those.
That’s great you have something that works for you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I set goals & turn off notifications so I’m not distracted. Thanks for the reminder to use an app. Hoote suite or the like would make social media more efficient!
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Great post I love the idea of time blocking! I need to be more intentional with my time instead of mindlessly scrolling
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Lovely tips, Lauren! I’ve recently turned off all the social media notifications and I’m currently scheduling my social media usage time. Thank you so much for sharing. xx Penny /www.whatdidshetype.com
Thank you for reading and commenting xx
I get lost in social media. Maybe I should start to block out time for using it.
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Great tips. It’s usually late at night when I get lost scrolling on Twitter. I use the blocking out time method during the day though.
That’s great you have something that works for you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
It’s so good to step away from social media during the day, social media and notifications can be distracting so it’s just better to turn them off! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Great suggestions here! I used to waste too much time in social media in the past. This was the main reasons I deleted all my social accounts and had none for more than 5 years. Last year I started blogging so, I kind of had to create social media accounts. I do use them in planned time during the day and when I am working I keep my phone in another room.
That’s great you had a long time with no social media. Unfortunately as a blogger you need it. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I waste a lot of time scrolling on social media 😒 its my downfall I’m afraid. Thanks for the tips, very helpful 😀
Thank you for reading and commenting. Can you link your blog?
Aww your very welcome😊LittleWildflower.site ♡
These are such great tips. I used to spend a ton of time on social media engaging and interacting, but now I set time limits. It’s been great for staying on track and prioritizing your own time. Thank you for sharing!
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Amazing post. Most day, I didn’t spend much time on social media but there were days where I can spend hours on social media. I am now planning on either set time limits or having block time for social media. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading and commenting x
Your opening section for content creators is perfectly incorporated into this post! I love your tips for scheduling time to use social media and sticking to the schedule. Turning off notifications is a big help, as I am not constantly feeling the need to see what is happening or respond immediately. 🙂
These are such great tips! I’ve heard lots of people use time blocking effectively although if I’m honest it’s not something that I’ve tried. I’m not actually sure.if it’s for me. Unless I didn’t have the children with me. I checked how long I was on my phone for, for the first time about a month ago and was actually pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t as bad as.i though it was going to be.
Claire.x
http://www.clairemac.co.uk
I have really been working on this, to be the most productive with my time as well as not wasting time when I should be doing things. Thank you for reading and commenting Jaya!
Great post! Very helpful tips <3 I like to turn on do not disturb which is great because I don’t have constant pinging on my phone but I can still get notifications. I also like to put my phone on airplane mode which saves battery and some mental energy!
That’s a good tip about putting it on aeroplane mode, so you won’t get the notifications as well. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I am so guilty of this! I get lost in a rabbit hole on social media all the time, it’s so addictive.
Corinne x
https://skinnedcartree.com
Me too! But I am using time blocking to help me stop! Thank you for reading and commenting. X
Great post. I’m guilty of excessive use of social media. Turning off notifications has helped so far, I guess the next I would do is to allocate specific time of the day I want to be on media. Thanks for the tips
I hope this post helps. Thank you for reading and commenting. X
Great tips here! For me scheduling time for social media helps the most as I than focus on what I want from it instead of just going with whatever it throws at me.
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This is a great and much-needed post in the world right now. Social media has become an epidemic for non-content creators, as it fills out so much time with wasted scrolling. Thank you for sharing this. If social media does not give someone an idea or call for legitimate action, it’s just wasting everyone’s time and should be limited as much as possible. Social media also happens to one of the primary enemies of productivity. FOMO is real, and we cannot set real plans and healthy habits until we get over FOMO. This is a great post.
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You’re welcome.
I really like these ideas Lauren! I have a time limit on social media and only have notifications for DMs on x
That’s good you have something that works for you. Thank you for reading and commenting. X
Great tips! Scheduling in time for social media is definitely something I have to try, I tend to lose track of time so easily when I’m on Twitter or Instagram or even blog hopping!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
This is such a helpful post with great tips! It’s so easy to waste time on social media & recently I’ve had that issue with TikTok. I would open the app with the expectation of watching a view videos before getting back to work but then before I know it 30 minutes or even longer has passed..
I found that limiting my to 10 minutes to watch videos has helped me cut down!
I also have my notifcations turned off for Twitter & IG & I definitely recommend it because I don’t get distracted & I can choose when I go on those platforms.
I have started watching those style videos on Instagram and I end up watching all sorts ha ha! Thank you for reading and commenting. It is great you have things in place to help you.
Looooove thisssss! I’m a blogger and content creator and spend HOURSSSSS a day on social media. EXTREMELY helpful
Turning off notifications works well for me. It also helps that I’m more of a movie person than a social media person
These are great tips! I definitely have to try time blocking out x
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Tip #5 helps.
Thanks for sharing.
Namaste.
I am so so guilty of wasting time on social media. I definitely need to try to do time blocks so I can get more out of my time with it, thank you for sharing these tips x
This is a great article. I must try to follow your suggestions
Spot on article. I’ll scroll down mindlessly in the hope of a valuable item coming up, which does not happen every time 🤔
Great post
Installing yourhour really helped me reduce the time I was spending on social media. I recommend it
I am glad it has been really helpful.
Great Tips! always being sidetracked by social media especially when I’m at work. Would definitely try this
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