Turn off notifications for social media apps

Reduce algorithmic feeds to a minimum with the help of custom lists, email automations and alternative apps

Block toxic, negative and unhelpful people as soon as you encounter them, no second thoughts

Consume deliberately by time blocking and being intentional instead of being enslaved by an algorithm

Schedule your content from afar by using third-party apps and services

<div>1</div>Algorithms are designed to keep us glued to our screens, to scroll down a bit more, and to see another ad. We find ourselves half an hour deep into Instagram while we just opened it to quickly post an update for our business. Apart from the obvious time wasters, <a href="https://www.makeuseof.com/social-media-making-you-sad-scientific-studies/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">social media has been proven time and time again to make us more anxious, sad, and stressed</a>. We see all those videos about reclaiming our time, uninstalling social media apps, and being on our merry way. But as creatives and business owners, we cannot just shut ourselves off social media.<h3>Key takeaways 🎯</h3><BLOCKQUOTE>Turn off notifications for social media apps</BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>Block toxic, negative and unhelpful people as soon as you encounter them, no second thoughts</BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>Consume deliberately by time blocking and being intentional instead of being enslaved by an algorithm</BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>Reduce algorithmic feeds to a minimum with the help of custom lists, email automations and alternative apps</BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>Schedule your content from afar by using third party apps and services</BLOCKQUOTE><h2>Turn off notifications 🔕</h2>There are no essential notifications. Social media apps scream for your attention and you will feel very, very guilty and uneasy when turning off the notifications. If you have important contacts you’d like to be available for, just give them your phone number and tell them to call or send you a good old SMS if something urgent comes up. As for social media, turn them all off.Thanks for reading Flygohr’s Ramblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<div><button type="submit" tabindex="0">Subscribe</button></div>Use system settings or an app blocker. All systems nowadays come with options to turn off notifications for specific apps. Third-party apps usually come with additional options, like creating groups for apps, setting time-based rules, and monitoring your app usage to keep you on track.Keep it tidy. You’ll install new apps. You’ll change phones. You’ll re-enable notifications during vacation or weekends. You’ll slip up. When you see a notification on your screen, just ask yourself: do I need to be reminded of this, or would I be just fine without knowing? FOMO is real, but so is the peace of mind that comes from a decluttered phone<h2>Block and ban time wasters 🚫</h2>Constructive criticism is one thing, trolling and harassing is another. We all know the keyboard warriors that roam the free web with their wisdom. But you really don’t need them or whatever insulting or unhelpful thing they have to say. Learn to discern between an educated, well-phrased critique of your work and the lazy-ass comment that tilts you off.Use mute, block, and ban functions in your apps. If you spot anything unhelpful, negative, or straight-out malicious, get rid of it. No warnings, no second chances. The internet is not a person you have in front of you, you can mute it. If it’s making you feel bad, angry, or sad, there’s no need to reply - and it’s often just not worth it to do so. Just mute or block or even ban the annoyance. If it was a mistake, they can always try to reach you via email or other people will make you notice.<h2>Consume deliberately ⏳</h2>We might still need to scroll through our socials for work. I know, I know. We need content, inspiration, and to stay on top of the competition by knowing what they are up to. We also need to keep an eye on trends, updates, and whatever is happening in the world these days. You just have to pick the right time for it.Decide when to browse instead of being nudged to. With notifications off, it’ll be more difficult to get sucked into deleting your productive time into doom-scrolling traps. Still, I tried to make a habit of checking social media only when I need to, instead of when I want to. There are even apps that will actually ask you why you want to open a certain app and let you set an intention for it.Time blocking is an essential skill to master. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">Time blocking</a> has been popularized in the past few years as a way to be more mindful about our work. Just mark half an hour, or whatever you need, on your calendar. Set an alarm or a timer when you start browsing social media. Collect your content, bookmark stuff, and take notes, but when the time is up, close everything and be done with it. <h2>Mute algorithmic feeds 🔇</h2>Most platforms have some ways to reduce your exposure to the algorithm Algorithmic feeds, or <a href="https://medium.com/make-time/distractions-are-a-nuisance-but-infinity-pools-are-the-real-problem-e84122d62c0c" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">Infinity Pools</a>, are a huge time waster. You can almost never get rid of them nowadays, but you can find some ways around them. For example, <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">Twitter has custom lists</a> and <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Multireddit-in-Reddit" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">Reddit allows you to create your own sets of communities</a>.Create your own feeds where possible. I, for example, keep only a very short list of subreddits in my home feed on Reddit. Those are subs I need to keep an eye on. All the subreddits that I might need on demand, instead, are into their own multireddits. I’m not a crazy productivity machine, so I too have a meme folder there. But it’s hidden from the main view, so I can consume it deliberately. I do the same with Twitter, where I tend to browse lists instead of the main feed.<h2>Schedule from a distance 🔭</h2>Scheduling can help hit the best posting times while avoiding native feeds. Most popular social media apps don’t have scheduling options built-in or if they have, they just suck (ahem, Twitter). But there are third-party services, often with free versions, that instead allow you to schedule Tweets, Reddit posts or Instagram posts, and even stories. By using them instead of posting directly in-app, you avoid the temptations of the algorithm.Willpower is a finite resource. There’s no point in fighting your temptations if it drains you of the energy you need for work. By not exposing yourself to temptation, you avoid cognitive load and are free to produce your best content safe inside your scheduling app. It also allows you to be more intentional with content, as well.Send this to a creative friend of yours. They’ll thank you later!<h3>Inspiring links 💡</h3><BLOCKQUOTE><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcGF3HqZXg&amp;list=PLoxRG0tZiah9dfTgJmqFFW9HXBoAwSkB-" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">Mental Momentum is a playlist from Andrew Kirby on YouTube</a> about, mainly, a journey of dopamine detox. He can be over the top sometimes, but the videos are helpful and worth a watch</BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=social+media+planning+artist" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" dir="ltr">A useful YouTube search to bookmark</a> with the most popular social media strategies for artists</BLOCKQUOTE>Thanks for reading Flygohr’s Ramblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<div><button type="submit" tabindex="0">Subscribe</button></div>

Or how to be on the creation side of content without falling into the doom-scrolling trap

productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

timemanagement

Time Management

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Algorithms are designed to keep us glued to our screens, to scroll down a bit more, and to see another ad. We find ourselves half an hour deep into Instagram while we just opened it to quickly post an update for our business. Apart from the obvious time wasters, <a href="https://www.makeuseof.com/social-media-making-you-sad-scientific-studies/">social media has been proven time and time again to make us more anxious, sad, and stressed </a>. We see all those videos about reclaiming our time, uninstalling social media apps, and being on our merry way. But as creatives and business owners, we cannot just shut ourselves off social media .

Turn off notifications for social media apps

Block toxic, negative and unhelpful people as soon as you encounter them, no second thoughts

Consume deliberately by time blocking and being intentional instead of being enslaved by an algorithm

Reduce algorithmic feeds to a minimum with the help of custom lists, email automations and alternative apps

Schedule your content from afar by using third party apps and services

There are no essential notifications . Social media apps scream for your attention and you will feel very, very guilty and uneasy when turning off the notifications. If you have important contacts you’d like to be available for, just give them your phone number and tell them to call or send you a good old SMS if something urgent comes up. As for social media, turn them all off.

Thanks for reading Flygohr’s Ramblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Use system settings or an app blocker. All systems nowadays come with options to turn off notifications for specific apps. Third-party apps usually come with additional options, like creating groups for apps, setting time-based rules, and monitoring your app usage to keep you on track.

Keep it tidy. You’ll install new apps. You’ll change phones. You’ll re-enable notifications during vacation or weekends. You’ll slip up. When you see a notification on your screen, just ask yourself: do I need to be reminded of this, or would I be just fine without knowing? FOMO is real, but so is the peace of mind that comes from a decluttered phone

Constructive criticism is one thing, trolling and harassing is another. We all know the keyboard warriors that roam the free web with their wisdom. But you really don’t need them or whatever insulting or unhelpful thing they have to say. Learn to discern between an educated, well-phrased critique of your work and the lazy-ass comment that tilts you off.

Use mute, block, and ban functions in your apps. If you spot anything unhelpful, negative, or straight-out malicious, get rid of it. No warnings, no second chances. The internet is not a person you have in front of you, you can mute it. If it’s making you feel bad, angry, or sad, there’s no need to reply - and it’s often just not worth it to do so. Just mute or block or even ban the annoyance. If it was a mistake, they can always try to reach you via email or other people will make you notice.

We might still need to scroll through our socials for work. I know, I know. We need content, inspiration, and to stay on top of the competition by knowing what they are up to. We also need to keep an eye on trends, updates, and whatever is happening in the world these days. You just have to pick the right time for it .

Decide when to browse instead of being nudged to. With notifications off, it’ll be more difficult to get sucked into deleting your productive time into doom-scrolling traps. Still, I tried to make a habit of checking social media only when I need to, instead of when I want to. There are even apps that will actually ask you why you want to open a certain app and let you set an intention for it.

Time blocking is an essential skill to master. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/">Time blocking </a>has been popularized in the past few years as a way to be more mindful about our work. Just mark half an hour, or whatever you need, on your calendar. Set an alarm or a timer when you start browsing social media. Collect your content, bookmark stuff, and take notes, but when the time is up, close everything and be done with it.

Most platforms have some ways to reduce your exposure to the algorithm Algorithmic feeds, or <a href="https://medium.com/make-time/distractions-are-a-nuisance-but-infinity-pools-are-the-real-problem-e84122d62c0c">Infinity Pools </a> , are a huge time waster. You can almost never get rid of them nowadays, but you can find some ways around them. For example, <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists">Twitter has custom lists </a>and <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Multireddit-in-Reddit">Reddit allows you to create your own sets of communities </a>.

Create your own feeds where possible. I, for example, keep only a very short list of subreddits in my home feed on Reddit. Those are subs I need to keep an eye on. All the subreddits that I might need on demand, instead, are into their own multireddits. I’m not a crazy productivity machine, so I too have a meme folder there. But it’s hidden from the main view, so I can consume it deliberately . I do the same with Twitter, where I tend to browse lists instead of the main feed.

Scheduling can help hit the best posting times while avoiding native feeds. Most popular social media apps don’t have scheduling options built-in or if they have, they just suck (ahem, Twitter). But there are third-party services, often with free versions, that instead allow you to schedule Tweets, Reddit posts or Instagram posts, and even stories. By using them instead of posting directly in-app, you avoid the temptations of the algorithm.

Willpower is a finite resource . There’s no point in fighting your temptations if it drains you of the energy you need for work. By not exposing yourself to temptation, you avoid cognitive load and are free to produce your best content safe inside your scheduling app. It also allows you to be more intentional with content, as well.

Send this to a creative friend of yours. They’ll thank you later!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcGF3HqZXg&list=PLoxRG0tZiah9dfTgJmqFFW9HXBoAwSkB-">Mental Momentum is a playlist from Andrew Kirby on YouTube </a>about, mainly, a journey of dopamine detox. He can be over the top sometimes, but the videos are helpful and worth a watch

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=social+media+planning+artist">A useful YouTube search to bookmark </a>with the most popular social media strategies for artists

Content creators mental health on social media

Flygohr Pezzin's ideas are part of this journey:

Related collections

Similar ideas