What can you do if social media starts to steal your life?

On average, teenagers spend about 40 hours each week on their smartphones. A study by “ die Zeit” shows that the time teenagers spend on their phones keeps increasing.

Social media is getting more and more a part of our lives. It makes things as communicating or staying in contact with old friends much easier. Everything and everybody is just one click “away“.

Getting addicted is a high risk lots of teenagers take. A study from DAK shows that around 100.000 teenagers between the age of 12-17 are addicted to social media. Most social media apps are designed in a way that makes you use them as often as possible. They send pop-up messages or use striking colors. They make the user think to miss something when they are not online and works like a drug in the brain.

I am going to show you some ways that can help to overcome using social media too often. But if you are realizing that it is a real addiction, you should get professional help. A social media addiction is a serious addiction. The tips are from different articles that got published at “Focus Online” and “Business Insider”.

When you notice that you spend too much time online, you could start by giving yourself a time limit for some apps. In this way, you don’t have to stop using social media completely because it also has some positive aspects, but you have a limit. While using social media, you often don’t realize that you spend so much valuable time on unnecessary things.

Another thing you can do is to switch off the pop-up messages, so you don’t get enticed to use the app in a moment you maybe didn’t even think of using it. You also don’t have to be available all the time. It is normal to not answer a message if you are out with friends or doing homework.

You should also set yourself a goal each day that has nothing to do with social media, but for example is good for your mental health or is something you like. This could be a 30-minute walk or baking something. Because of social media, we often tend to neglect things that are good for us.

Another thing you should stop doing is using social media as a reward. Things like „I am doing my homework for 30 minutes and then using social media for 30 minutes“ reinforces the positive affirmation social media already has when you are addicted. Instead, you should reward yourself with something good for your mental health.

You should always remember that you don’t miss anything if you aren’t online. Your real life is much more important than most of the things you see on social media.

Nevertheless, social media isn’t all bad, it also has positive sides and can be very helpful. We just have to make sure social media doesn’t overtake our lives.

Text: anonymous, picture: Marco Verch