Your eyes monitor the screen; your hands keep itching till you grab the gadget and dive into a sticky web. Soon, it engulfs you like a snake that swallows its prey — whole. 

Build Strong Boundaries on Social Media

Here are some suggestions that will help you to build strong social media boundaries, in no particular order. 

Simply identify your problem area and find a solution to it by adopting the rules that work best for you. 

Let's go. 

Clean up your lists of friends and followers. 
Delete all the contacts for people you don't even know and never communicate with in real life or online. Remove contacts whose posts you find boring or irritating, and those who post too often, as well. Feel free to remove the accounts you don't trust. Don't stop until your list shows no sign of blotting from irrelevant "friends." It's not about the quantity but the quality of your connections — remember that.

Don't accept any invitation to become friends automatically. 
You have the right to choose, so give yourself permission to say no. Don't be shy — accepting or rejecting requests is totally up to you. 

Whenever someone wants to befriend me on Facebook, I follow a simple procedure. First, I determine if I know the person or if they are a friend of a friend. Then I check out the person's private account (it will tell you a lot), then the content, and decide if it will benefit my happiness or professional development to accept their request. And if it won’t, sorry, but NO.  

Schedule your networking on social media. 
It would help to know your purpose for using social media. Is it about social engagement, business, or both? Determining your purpose for being online can help you decide how to use social media and what connections you need. If you’re using it for both, have two separate lists. (Clean up your business list, too.)

Weed through the pages you follow and your Facebook groups.
How many groups have you joined? I thought so. When I looked at my list, I was surprised, to say the least — I counted 27! And how many have I visited regularly? Yep, just a few. So, leave all the groups you are not engaged with and free your newsfeed from the information you no longer are interested in. 

Do not engage with insulting comments.
Stay away from aggressive posts and comments; just ignore them. Delete or blacklist accounts with violent, nasty content — you don't want more negativity in your life. 

Limit the time you spend on social media.
Placing limits on your social media use is crucial, so turn off notifications for your social media accounts permanently. Save your time and energy for what's important in life — your health, family, and real people. Not to mention your work.

Schedule your sessions for using social media.
This way, you can check your accounts once or twice a day according to your schedule. If you use them both for private and business networking, have separate schedules for checking your accounts, reading and replying to messages, and posting — and stick to them. 

Set up screen limits and downtime to avoid mindless scrolling.
Setting an automatic screen-time limit is easy. For example, on iPhone: Settings > Screen Time > "Down Time" and "App Limits".

Are you using another smartphone? Let me know the procedure, and I will share it here, too. 

Mute your phone when you spend time with your family.
Even better, put it away. Not using the gadget in the evening will set an excellent example for your kids and bring you closer as a family. You might even improve your sleep! Read a book instead — remember those paper ones? I'm sure you still have some on your shelf, waiting to be read. And if not, find ideas on Amazon or sign up for the Goodreads.com website and get fresh ideas every week.

Turn Sundays into social-media-free days.
Let your mind and eyes rest, and do things you love to do for yourself — hobbies, walks in nature, take a bath, or whatever else makes you feel great and joyful. Go for it! 

When communicating with strangers online, take it slow.
You find this person interesting — I get it. Still, take your time before revealing too much about yourself. Don't rush into disclosure, giving someone an advantage. According to Dana Gionta, Ph.D., it takes between six and nine months to get to know someone's character. Even if it feels like you know this person well already, the internet can give this illusion. Remind yourself that what you see is a façade we people put on to make a good first impression. Find out who's the real person behind this beautiful front door. Look for possible inconsistencies and other red flags. 

Take advantage of your commute.
Use this time to read your messages and emails. Listen to a podcast. Unless you are the driver, type your responses, and get it done with for the day. 

Don't take your phone into bed.
Last but not least, keep your bedroom a blue-wave-free zone for better sleep and health. We still don't know for sure what all this technology does to our bodies and brains, so better safe than sorry.