True confession: I, too, had a social media addiction. I’m guessing that being as you found this blog you can relate.
Whether your social media addiction has just recently gotten out of control or been going on for years, my hope is that, today, I’ll help you stop the scroll (or, at least, take away a lot of the power it has over your life).
Why we “need” social media.
How does one manage a food addiction if food is everywhere and it’s something you need every day? In order to live, you still need this thing that you’re addicted to.
And so, for many of us, in order to…
- support our businesses
- stay connected to family
- communicate with friends (old and new)
- keep up with trends/news/pop culture
…we still need to use social media to some extent.
Addictions tend to be distractions.
Most of us find ways to distract ourselves from feeling bored or doing the thing we know we need to do. We use these means to avoid disconnectedness.
This is very interesting, to me, because most studies show that the more time we spend on social media, the less connected and the more alone we feel.
Talk about a vicious cycle!
My Past/Present Social Media Addiction
My weakness was once Instagram. But I put strong boundaries and systems in place that enabled me to connect with my audience & create content — but not mindlessly spend hours scrolling.
Then came TikTok.
I’m in love.
And I fooled myself into thinking that the hours I spent on TikTok were about “looking for content that I could recreate,” but the truth is:
I was just scrolling. Zero boundaries. Zero intention.
And it just kept getting worse and was in complete contradiction to the goal I had set for myself.
So…
Behind the scenes, I’ve been working hard on becoming what I like to call a:
Social Media Minimalist
Creating systems that allow me to use these platforms with intention has truly changed the game.
For example: my time on Instagram is now intentional and scheduled.
So much more satisfying!
However, as with any addiction, you can’t just set it and forget it. This is something that I have to continually monitor.
As a matter of fact, I deleted the Clubhouse app because it really was too much for my addictive, easily distracted brain to manage.
To learn the systems I’ve recently employed for a much healthier relationship with social AND an invitation to participate in “The Social Media Habit Refresh” challenge…
You must check out The Chalene Show below:
And don’t forget to subscribe to TCS for weekly episodes dedicated to your overall personal development — from relationships to habits to nutrition to mental health!
