Finding Focus: Using Screen Time for Social Media

The user is the product on social media, and every effort is made to keep our attention. After reviewing my usage, I decided that I was spending too much time being the product and not being productive, and that needed to change. My solution to help me stay on track is Screen Time, the built-in iOS and iPad OS tool.

I have a fifteen-minute limit set for social applications. Once triggered, the app Icon disappears from Siri Suggestions and isn't readily displayed in search results, the two ways I access the most used apps on my iPhone. Additionally, the icon is grayed out wherever it is shown with a small hourglass icon, acting as a not-so-subtle reminder that the time is up.

When the limit screen appears, an Ignore Limit menu offers the opportunity to delay for 1 minute, 15 minutes, or the rest of the day. When presented with this pop-up, I usually just close the app and move on.

After a few months of using this feature, I rarely see this screen appear, and in some ways, I have learned to self-regulate my usage to at most one or two short periods per day. I am pleased with this more balanced approach to social media; the reduction in use is a better fit for my life, and I still can keep in touch with the creators I enjoy.

I wondered if sharing my use of Screen Time would feel like an admission of weakness or an embarrassment and spoke with some friends and family about this idea, and they helped me understand that my desire to limit these apps is healthy. Sharing my experience might be helpful for others considering a similar path.

If you are on a specific app more than you'd like, check your usage. If the number you see makes you uncomfortable, set a limit. Then, when that hourglass icon comes onto the screen, it offers you a momentary break from that dopamine machine, and you can make a better-informed choice about what to do with your time.