How I decreased my social media attachment during my work hours
Social media distraction is real. You are working on your project, you finish a small task and log in to facebook just for a second. You might want to check out what they are doing, what they have posted and end up wasting an hour or more in it. I have been there. I have used youtube for 10 minutes at noon and seen all dark outside and I only wanted to check that one video. We have been suffering from it quite a lot. The loop is real. This endless looping into the world of social media occurs when we try to take a small break from our work especially for mental refreshment. And using social media as a getaway from your tedious work is just a bad move. I have realized it a hard way. And I have tried things to be off these and some tricks have helped me. Let me tell you what have worked for me:
1. Break down my hours:
Since I work remotely, I have to manage time to put to my work, I have to be motivated enough to not digress from my tasks. So I’ve divided my 8 hours of task into two 4 hours of tasks. This way I don’t have to work continuously for whole 8 hours. My basic routine is to use early morning for first four hours when I’m already refreshed and focused. I work for another four hours after 1 pm. This way I have to work for shorter period of times and hence my brain is not as tired.
2. Set fixed time for social medias:
I usually check in on my social medias in the evenings after dinner. Sometimes when I have to send messages or when Iam expecting messages, I log in after my first four hours. But never use them during my four hours. These hours are completely reserved for work. Nothing else.You can still use them if you want to do social media marketing. If not then avoid them at any cost. It’s not paying you.
3. Engage less in social medias:
Sometimes I post things, update the statuses and I feel the yearn to log in just to check the comments or likes. And it starts from there, I log in and begin to scroll down until its dawn. So, these days I try to post less. I only do it sometimes. May be weekly or monthly. I am active in the chat only in the evenings. Most of the times I initiate the chat only when its necessary. Even at other times I try to keep it short.
4. Make routine:
Why do we check our facebook first thing in the morning? Because we don’t have anything else planned. I put a note in the table stating where I am with the project and next day I just open up my project and try recollecting where I was the previous day. This makes up my mind early and its easier to start working. It shouldn’t necessarily mean you should start working from very start of the day even before going to office. You can simply read a book. The idea is to do tasks which keep your mind directed. If you start your day with surfing facebook or instagram, you see alot of things, different things and your mind is already distracted and divided. We just want to avoid that and try to be focused from the start.
5. Stay busy:
The routine comes handy here as well. When I finish my work early, I usually open my bookmarked page of ‘the economist’ and start reading. This is my usual habit. When you do not have any plans you tend to open youtube or facebook. Hence, the idea is to make a default plan. Even though you have nothing else to do, you still have your default tasks at hand.
6. There are other ways to refresh your mind:
Sometimes the task is exacting and the brain is soon tired. I just long to open up my facebook. I used to log in and spent next few hours in facebook or you tube and then resume my work with lots of things in head. But now I try other ways to reinvigorate, I sometimes drink two glasses of cold water or get up from the chair and stretch. If it doesn’t help I take a short walk round and that usually helps. The other methods to refresh yourself include taking a time off and walking around, meditating, just getting up the chair and getting down, taking a power nap(only if you are feeling sleepy), sitting under a tree or in a garden or around a source of natural water like river, stream, artificial springs, small ponds, lakes etc also make a huge difference and refreshes you… much better option than hanging around in facebook, twitter, youtube or instagram. You get refreshing view of nature, and sometimes even get some ideas or plan. Even research has shown that applying above methods to rejuvenate yourself actually works to lighten your mood and gets you going again.
Following these ideas has really helped me be less attached to social sites and has tremendously improved my productivity. If you are also in the same problem, try these, at least try something to get out of it.