We are spending too much time on social media.

“Ruining our lives” may be pretty strong language, but consuming social media is linked to depression.

Using too many social media platforms greatly increases the risk of depression and anxiety.

Instagram and Snapchat are the worst offenders of increasing anxiety, FOMO, and depression.

What else could we be doing with that time? Learning a new skill? Getting better at our current skills? Building that side hustle we keep talking about doing?

 

Consuming social media makes us less happy with our own lives.

When we are unhappy, we’re less productive.

When we’re less productive, we get stressed. Being stressed harms our minds and bodies.

Being stressed also makes us less productive. This vicious cycle wrecks us in many ways.

We can avoid this disaster, though, and keep our minds free from the trappings of consuming too much social media.

 

We can’t keep up with it all, so we shouldn’t try.

Seriously, it’s an endless stream. Endless.

Doesn’t matter what we want to track, we can’t absorb it all. If we’re trying to stay “in the know” on current events… why?

Does watching the “news” do us any good or do we find ourselves getting angry when we read/watch that stuff?

We must unfollow those accounts. We must stop trying to keep up with it at all.

The news paints an unpleasant portrait of the world. Political arguments on Facebook = pointless. We must disengage from those hotbeds of warped negativity.

If we think negatively about the world, we act differently (negatively). That will not lift our spirits as we will be focused on toxic thoughts.

We must stay above the fray and noise of spending too much time on social media.

Staying positive is the way forward!

Detox from all those bad influences. Unplugging from the negative source will heal us and help us grow.

Believing in a friendly environment and believing people are generally good will create a better world for all of us.

People tend to react in kind. When we make the first move from positivity and peace, we encourage reciprocity of that. Do good today!

The internet forums have devolved into largely negative spaces. Stay out of those places!

Keeping our minds clear of that poison will keep us happier and healthier.

 

Multitasking is a myth.

We must stop lying to ourselves about being “good at multitasking.”

As the brilliant Ron Swanson once said, “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

Try reading or listening to “The One Thing” by Gary Keller. It’ll help clarify priorities.

We can’t be on social media and effectively working on something. Unless social media is (part of) your job, it shouldn’t be open during work time.

Distractions come from everywhere, but this one can be avoided easily. Close the tab. Don’t open the app.

Spending too much time on social media is simply a way for us to avoid responsibility. There are better ways to procrastinate…

 

Procrastinate Better

It’s what we call “Productive Procrastination.” Doing things that are productive and helpful, but not the things we most need to accomplish is procrastinating productively.

Whereas browsing social media streams is mindless and unproductive, a few forms of productive procrastination include:

Playing brain games. Journaling. Organizing. Goal setting and planning.

Watching excellent YouTube videos from successful people. Spending $10-20 on a Udemy course and learning a new skill.

 

How do we solve our collective problem of spending too much time on social media? We unplug.