Why and How to Block Your Social Media
Why on earth hasn't he talked about blocking social media before? Here's why.
🤔 What is it?
Now, the first thing you're thinking is hopefully: why on earth hasn't he talked about blocking social media before?
Yes, everyone speaks about it.
It is the top modern time-consumer with people spending 4-6 hours daily on their phones.
A majority of that time is spent on useless social media apps, leaving you feeling inadequate, with low self-esteem, and countless hours shorter of your life, that you're never getting back.
I won't focus too much more on the reasons above but focus on what you can do to easily remove this distraction from your life to be effective and feel much better in your mental health.
Understanding why you should block certain apps is easy.
Implementing it is the difficult part, especially when doing it across your business as well.
Personally, I've regained so many hours that I can use for, well, everything else that actually provides me value. But getting dragged into the use of apps is so, so easy. I mean, it's their job to get us to use them—and for many, like myself across my businesses, I also use them for marketing purposes. So, it is a balance.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it."
- Seneca
Complexity score (and why)
Score: 6/10
The complexity score is higher for this tool. Implementing it in your personal life is one thing, but doing so across your company adds a layer of difficulty.
The key is to avoid going to extremes and burning out by going "full monk-mode" before you and your team are ready. Also, be mindful not to intrude into your employees' personal space, as the use of social media has become so normal in daily life.
How to implement
I suggest the following:
For yourself, be ruthless with your time. Granting social media +6 hours of your day does not correlate with growing any form of business or personal values.
For others, set an example, share best practices, and connect the topic to mental health.
Adopt the mindset that you are "producers of content, not consumers of content". The reason people check their phones during work hours is often just bad habits.
Get apps to block your social media apps
Several apps can help you block out apps of your choosing. I prefer the app "Opal," which is free as of now.
Here, I block all social media channels except between 17:00 and 19:00.
This means I don't get notifications or can't access the apps (unless I wait for 5-10 seconds and actively put in additional effort to "unlock" them).
If I want to check how my channels are performing or what my friends and family have shared, I'll do it from 17:00 and 19:00.
It has also helped me mentally not being able to check social media during sensitive times of the day: when I wake up and when I go to bed.
If you or your employees work with social media, they, of course, need access to the business channels during work hours. Keep the business and personal accounts separate. However, try to use planning tools outside the actual platforms to minimize the need for direct access.
This can be easy to implement for yourself, but difficult when it comes to your full team or company.
You need to make sure it is done appropriately so as not to overstep a person's personal space or adopt a micromanagement mindset.
Want help implementing the tool?
Reach out to me on LinkedIn or get your free introduction call via my website www.casperbrix.com.
I would love to help you get the right things done - by doing less.
How do you avoid wasting time on social media? Hit me up in the comments! :)
Talk to you soon 👋
Casper
I built these startups to help you:
The Effectivity Playbook: My toolbox with the 20 most popular effectivity tools (incl. implementation guides)
First Book ai: Write your first book in days, not years, with our AI platform (used by +300 authors)
Effectivity coaching: Helping business leaders and teams reclaim 50% of their time in just 30 days
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