How to Break Social Media Addiction Using 2 Simple Steps

We all know those moments while being bored or stressed, we go to our social media accounts to make us divert or relax for some minutes, but then we enter in a black hole and hour passes by. Sometimes even we don't know why we're scrolling for hours.

We check our screen time and decide to deactivate Facebook or Instagram. We deactivate, start to feel a little empty and active again. Sounds familiar? Then I gotcha.

Before tackling social media addiction with 2 steps method, we need to understand the root cause, why we feel those craving to grab our phone every time we hear the notification.

Here is something called 'The Habit Loop'. Charles Duhigg's book 'The Power of Habit' introduced this concept. He breaks this into three steps: Cues, Routine, Reward. Let's dive in.

Breaking Down The Habit Loop

Cues are the triggers for behavior to start. In the case of social media usage, our cues can be the sound of notification, the number of notification written in red font. Suppose we're trying to do something, the moment our phone vibrates with notification we feel an urge to check what's this for.

Routine is the behavior itself. After getting the cues, what we do pretty much in an autopilot mode is our routine. Like checking our phone.

The Reward is the feel-good feeling, what our brain gets out of that routine. In the case of social media, it can be the curiosity of seeing new things, as with every refresh we see new posts, videos, memes. It can the feeling of being in touch with others. It can be the feeling of belonging, being liked, being popular and the list goes on.

2 Steps to Follow

Now take some minutes to think and find your cues and reward. Now come back and as you know what's the possible core reason for being hooked, we can work on those points to reduce the amount of unwanted using of social sites.

Handling Cues: I'm here just giving some examples so that you can understand the process and can personalize according to your life and need.

If your cues are something like the sound of notification, then we can always use the power of notification settings or silent button, what say?

But if your cues are such as feeling bored, or have no one to talk, then we can maybe try to find some hobbies, we can bring some indoor plants, have a pet, cycle, or talk to someone, cook pasta. Just do something that those cues can not show up.

Handling Reward: Remember those good feel vibe?

"The FRAMEWORK: Identify the routines, Experiment with rewards, Isolate the cue, Have a plan." -Charles Duhigg

One reason we activate to our diactivated account so quickly is, our brain craves for those rewards feeling what it's not getting now. So that urge forces us to get back to our bad habit.

Then what can do now? If the brain knows it gets stimulation from Facebook, steals those reasons for stimulation. The plan is to make the brain realize, "Oh! This has become boring, I'm not getting entertained. Let's not use Facebook that much."

Maybe we can unfollow some pages, people. So eventually the brain will start to lose interest, it won't crave using those apps that much anymore.

So by knowing our cues and rewards, we can reduce the usage. The idea is simple, know why a certain app's holding you so much, then make those reasons powerless.

We can also give us the treat to encourage by eating a favorite food or going outside. Hoping for the best, good wishes with new good habits.