5 Steps to Have a Healthy Relationship with Social Media

Susan sat attempting to complete her homework.

*buzz*. It was a notification from Instagram. She checked it and then started back with her work.

*buzz*…a Snapchat notification. Again, she checked it, then got back to work.

After 10 more minutes, she had checked her phone three more times because of notifications.

“I am never going to be able to get this done,” she thought to herself. She put her phone downstairs and finally finished.

Later that night at bedtime, she started scrolling through her phone. Before she knew it, it was past 1 a.am. and she finally went to sleep. The next day she was groggy and irritable.

Do your days sound like Susan’s?

According to different research, teenagers spend between 7.5 -9 hours a day staring at a screen. That’s almost every hour you are awake but not in school. 

I want you to know that I am not anti-screen or anti-technology, but I do want to be able to help teenager have a healthy relationship with it. Therefore, below I will discuss five steps for you to take to help maintain a positive relationship with social media.

5 Steps to a Healthy Social Media Relationship

1.Turn off ALL push notifications

You don’t have to know the exact second someone likes your Instagram picture or sends you a snap. The constant updating keeps you distracted and unable to really enjoy or focus on what is happening in the moment.

2. Unfollow ALL accounts that make you self-conscious or unhappy.

If you follow anyone and have thought, “I wish I could be more like them,” or “If I had their life…”, unfollow them! There is no reason to intentionally make yourself sad or feel less than.  

Psalm 139:14 states, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”. God made you on purpose and He didn’t create you to be like anyone else.

3. Limit screen time to ONE hour per day.

According to the latest research, spending more than one hour a day on social media begins to negatively affect mental health.

4. Do not sleep with your phone in your room

Having your phone in your room invites distraction and also cause sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation worsens anxiety, depression, and also makes you more irritable and less able to focus.

5. Enjoy real life. 

When it comes to real life events, do not spend them trying to get the perfect picture to share or video everything. Take a few pictures if you want, and then enjoy the rest of the time with friends/loved ones.

In Closing

Social media can have a detrimental affect on your life, if you let it. By following these guidelines, you can keep the negativity away and have a healthy relationship with it.

As a side note, this post is part of our “Break the Chains” series where we discuss the major culprits that are negatively affecting teens lives. The goal is to help them break the proverbial chains of sin and negativity and help them live the abundant life God has called us to. If you are interested in all the posts in the series, click here.

Thank you for reading! Please share with anyone you think many need this!

In Christ,

-Sarah

More about our Ministry

At Transformed4More, our goal is to help those who want to grow in their relationship with God, and we do this in two main ways:

• The first is by providing resources. We have our own and ones we recommend. Click here or the graphic below to see them.

• Another way is through social media. We are most active on Instagram, but we update and connect on Twitter,  Facebook,  Pinterest, and YouTube as well!

• We also have a newsletter we send out every few months with updates as well! You can join it by clicking here.