Stop Getting Used by Social Media, Start Using Them

A few tricks to get rid of the distractions and keep only the benefits.

🤩 Hey! I’m Alberto. With my newsletter I want to help you reach your full potential and live your ideal life with a content-based business. I’ve been doing this since 2010.
I talk about productivity, automation, strategy and mindset.

Social media is eeevil!

No, just joking. Social media is a tool. Like a car, a knife, or nuclear power, it can be used for good and bad.

Social media can be your main source of traffic. Or the best way to find like-minded creators, to feel less alone and launch profitable collaborations. Or where you get inspired.

The same holds for messaging apps like Discord, Telegram, and Whatsapp.

So, how do you get these benefits without the distractions?

Here are the techniques I use, featuring a couple of unusual tricks.

Make your phone boring

This is not the unusual part. You already know it**: notifications must die**.

Don’t waste your willpower trying to ignore all the fancy ways smartphones lure you. Like a child covering their eyes in front of a horror scene but leaving a gap between their fingers. Armies of clever engineers have designed apps to be magnetic. It’s a losing battle.

Just shut off every non-vital notification:

1. keep your phone always in “Do not disturb” mode,

2. allow only notifications from important persons whose calls and messages could need an immediate response (e.g., your parents),

3. let everyone know they need to call you for urgent requests,

4. remove distracting apps from your home screen to avoid temptations (or hide them within folders),

5. go through every distracting app and disable all kinds of notifications, not just sounds, but also visual notifications like banners and badges (the “red dots” on the icon apps),

6. if absolutely necessary, keep only the notifications from specific people or groups (for example, I muted all my WhatsApp groups and chats related to clients).

I set up my phone this way and go through steps 4-6 every time I install a new app.

My phone is just boring. When I’m very tired, I sometimes unlock the screen hoping for a jolt of dopamine. But I’m always disappointed.

With everything disabled, you need to proactively check for updates by scrolling through your app list and tapping on the app icon. There’s more resistance and more time to catch and stop yourself.

You can go as far as uninstalling distracting apps from your phone. In this case, the next tip becomes particularly useful.

Long live… your computer!

Fortunately, every messaging platform and social network has its own website. You can use them through your browser. So, you can move your interactions to your computer, where you have more control.

Here’s the deal:

1. uninstall the messaging and social media apps from your computer,

2. uninstall the messaging and social media extensions from your browser,

3. install the Freedom extension on your browser

4. ensure that the URLs of the social media and messaging platforms you are using are included in Freedom’s blocklist.

The Freedom extension is simple. When you try to visit a website in its blocklist, it shows you a “pause screen”.

It’s a “discipline assistant”. You have to click on the “Continue…” link to go on. It gives you a last chance to get back on track.

If you don’t remove distracting apps from your phone, there’s a similar app to the Freedom extension. You can find it here

https://one-sec.app/

Turn distractions into rewards

Social media is a waste of time when it’s a form of escapism. We feel bored, lonely, tired, then unlock the phone and fall into passive mode. Then we emerge after an hour, feeling drained and guilty.

We can instead decide that these distractions are a reward for our deep work. Setting this rule in advance saves willpower.

So:

• commit to focused work for at least half an hour, possibly for 90 minutes,

• set a timer,

• when it goes off, if you avoided distractions, set another timer for 10 or more minutes,

• enjoy distractions with abandon until the timer goes off.

Setting all these timers may feel cumbersome. But until you build the habit, it’s almost impossible to be aware of the time spent in deep work or distraction mode.

Alternatively, you can add “deep work” and “reward” blocks on your calendar. But only if your schedule is predictable.

Bonus positive side effects

The entire strategy doesn’t improve only your deep work. It also makes your activity on social media more meaningful.

Every notification causes an adrenaline rush: answer, fast! This doesn’t lead to a reflexive, wise, and constructive reply. That’s why social media is the realm of misunderstandings and conflict.

If you only check social media intentionally, you can take your time. There’s no hormone-filled rush involved.

Additionally, I type far faster on my PC than on my smartphone. For you, it’s probably the same. This means that I can write more in less time and post more in-depth contributions.

Give this a try

If this seems complicated, that’s the point! When distractions are harder to access, they become less attractive.

You’ll need some time to set everything up and get used to. So, try this strategy for a few weeks. After it’s ingrained, you can appreciate the positive effects on your work and mental health.

You’ll realize no one suffers if you reply after a few hours. Or even a whole day!

You’ll probably be more calm. Your creativity will increase. And you’ll lose any addiction to social media.

What’s your favorite “distraction-busting” technique?

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