IRL Week: disconnect to reconnect

New research shows that even a week of reducing time spent on social media can have incredibly positive effects on mental health. This improvement includes significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and insomnia. And the reduction can be any intentional reducing of time spent exclusively on social media sites, not screens in general.

We have chosen the week of May 13-20 to be IRL (In Real Life) Week and are encouraging Ottawa County residents to reduce their social media time during these seven days. We’ll share alternate activities, tips to make the transition back to “real life” a bit easier, and articles to boost knowledge and understanding around this issue.

View IRL Week In-Person Alternative Activities
IRL Week: Disconnect to reconnect

tips for reducing your social media use

  • Ask yourself why you’re picking up your phone in the first place.
  • Address that feeling in a different way. Connect with a friend, clean something, go outside, move your body, journal. Be uncomfortable for a moment until the feeling passes. BE BORED.
  • Use an app tracker.
  • Track the amount of time you’re spending on social media apps. Some apps have built-in timers that can help you track your time and set reminders to exit the app.
  • Set your phone to grayscale.
  • Phone apps are meant to be eye-catching and exciting. Changing your phone settings to grayscale during times you’d like to stay off your phone is a quick and easy trick.
  • Delete social media apps from your phone.
  • Make it harder for you to access them at all times. If you don’t want to delete apps entirely, moving them into a folder or away from your home screen can help decrease your time on them.
  • Turn off push notifications.
  • Notifications are designed to get us to check apps, which increases the likelihood that we start scrolling. Turning them off can help you stay off apps.
  • Create “no phone zones” and even set physical boundaries in your space.
  • Make an area in your house the phone free zone. Make rules based on the use you’re trying to cut down. For example, no checking your phone in bed at night or first thing in the morning, or no phones at the dinner table.
  • Don’t have your phone in your bedroom at night.
  • Even charge it in a different room.
  • Don’t save passwords.
  • Manually enter them. This offers some (though not total) protection from apps and their addictive algorithms.
  • Set time limits for social media.
  • Pair your phone with a fun paperback or a notebook to journal in.

additional tips, resources, and research

apps, devices, and resources to help with phone use

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