Has your workout routine gone by the wayside because of the time you spend perusing your social media sites? Is your significant other complaining about the time you spend on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Are you compulsively checking your social media sites even though you are aware of how annoyed you are with them? It could be that you have reached the point where you know you need space from your social media accounts. Social media is mentally and physically harmful to us when our focus on it is out of control. Taking the first step to separate from them can be challenging, so read further to learn some ideas for how to break away from that pesky social media site.

• Focus on your in-person or voice-communication relationships instead of on your social media relationships. Studies have proven that the people you have actual voice conversations with and make personal time for are the ones whose time you benefit from. They are also the ones who benefit from time with you. Do not neglect these meaningful relationships for an uncaring computer screen.
• Placing rules and boundaries on your personal social media use is a good practice to be in. You need to take limiting your social media time seriously in order to overcome it. Do not allow yourself social media time first thing in the morning, or last thing in the evening before sleep. Instead, spend time with your significant other, read, meditate, pray or drink some tea. Forbid yourself from using social media while with friends, family or at work. Try to limit it to a few minutes per day.
• When you free up your time by limiting your social media use, you will want to be sure to then fill your time with meaningful activities so that the habit sticks. Get out and enjoy all the things you have been missing out on with your face stuck in a screen. Go hiking, spend time with the elderly, plant a garden, go on a date to the theater, take a moonlit walk or start a new hobby. Social media is merely simulated life, and it causes us to miss out on actual life.