So many of us are addicted to Facebook these days.
When you feel down, who do you seek counsel from?… Facebook
When an assignment begins to cause you a migraine, what medication do you take? Facebook
When your exams are approaching and things become too stressful, who do you complain to?
Yes, you’ve guessed it! Facebook.
Facebook has become a solution to many problems. In fact it has become a sort of reflex to log onto Facebook when things become tedious and frustration hits in.
Now this problem can easily be fixed by deactivating your Facebook right? But this solution is not very practical because Facebook has become a part of our lives whether we like it or not. It has its own ups and downs but there is a way of being responsible with our Facebook usage and not allow it to take over our lives.
Today, I am going to share with you exactly how I have managed to keep up to date with Facebook without letting it take over my life.
What I have installed in my internet browsers are these applications (add ons) that allow you block certain websites for a certain amount of time. For example, if you study during the mornings and the nights then you can set this application to block Facebook all the way until maybe around 9pm to 9.30pm. You then can use this as a reward for your hard work and finally get on Facebook guilt free.
I have on my laptop, three browsers – my Mozilla Firefox, my Google Chrome and Internet Explorer (which I never use but it was there since I had my laptop).
Mozilla Firefox
For my Mozilla, I have an add on called Leech Block. In this program, I have set Facebook on a permanent block since I use this browsers to do work related tasks.
This is how I access the settings for this add on
As you can see when I attempt to gain access to the settings, I have to enter in a 32-character access code. This has been placed to deter me from accessing the settings, disabling the add on and getting back on the procrastinating websites
I recommend that you chose to access these settings by either entering a 32-character access code or (if you really can’t trust yourself) a 64-character access code!
Here is where you list down all the websites you wish to keep away from. For now its Facebook but more websites may be added in the future
Google Chrome
As for my Google Chrome, there is another cool application called Stay Focused. This application works differently to the one on Mozilla. What this does is allow you to surf on websites normally used for procrastination for a certain amount of time, after this time has been exceeded you are blocked from this website and you cannot opened it even if you go back to the settings panel and change it. I have set this one to 15 minutes.
‘Stay Focused’ in action! It becomes red and begins to count down when you begin surfing on a blocked website
Only 14:36 minutes of Facebooking left for me! 🙂
These are just some of things both these applications are capable of doing. Try them for yourself and tweak the settings till your heart’s content.
LeechBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476/
StayFocused: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji
[ **Note: This article was originally written for a blog of mine (no longer running) and received thousands of views which proved that it was something many experienced.
Furthermore, since it has been 4 yrs since the article was first published, many things have changed so here are a few points to keep in mind:
- Although this article was written to help keep your Facebook Addiction under control, the apps listed below can also be used for other social media networks.
- In the past 4 yrs mobile usage has skyrocketed so if your addicted to social media then it’s possible that its happening via mobile. If this is the case then my advice is to simply log out for a few a days & then get back on. This way you can break your habit.
- Finally – social media is not all that evil, it has its pros/cons that’s why this article is more about how to control your usage as opposed to cutting it out of your life all together.
I hope you enjoyed the article! – Mifrah (: ]
How Do You Tackle your Social Media Addictions? Comment Below!
Awesome post ! Im going to dowload those to apps to get my addiction under control. JazakAllahkhair sister Mifra, may Allah reward you immensely in this life and in the Next !