“I can’t believe how much time I waste on Facebook,” a friend told me. “It’s not like there’s even anything good or interesting on there anymore. I really should just get rid of it.” My friend isn’t alone. Plenty of people feel they get little value out of social media, and yet they continue to use it more than they would like, often to the detriment of their productivity and their mental well-being.

Facebook isn’t the only offender. People throw their hands up at Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and other apps and websites all the time. Still, not everyone wants to quit social media for good.

You could leave social media entirely in search of a more private life(Opens in a new window) or abstain for a year to minimize FOMO(Opens in a new window) and see whether and how you change as a result. Or you could take a more balanced approach and keep social media in your life but get better at managing how much time you spend on it. There are plenty of techniques and tools that help.

If you’re not willing to quit cold turkey, you can limit the amount of time you spend on social media per day. For example: “I’ll spend no more than 10 minutes per day on Instagram,” or “I will spend no more than 15 minutes per day on all social media.”

No matter how you implement it, this strategy is far from foolproof. When you limit your time rather than quit, there’s no guarantee you won’t break the rules you set for yourself. No matter what kind of obstacles you put in your way, you can always get around them.

Yes, there are workarounds, but that’s missing the point. The point is to:

1) Decide in advance what kind of relationship you want to have with social media.

2) Put rules in place for yourself.

3) Create obstacles that give you pause before you deviate from your rules.

4) Stick to your intentions.

Here are some of the tools and strategies that can help. Keep in mind that you can use them simultaneously.

1. Track Time Spent on Social Media

You might feel like you’re spending too much time on social media, but how much is too much? How much do you need to cut back? You can’t know the answers until you measure what you’re doing now.

RescueTime is an app for all major platforms that tracks the amount of time you spend on different sites and applications. It can also block sites that it thinks are most distracting to you (more on that in the next section). Apple limits how much it can track on its mobile devices, however, so you may need to use a separate tool for that.

iOS has a built-in tool called Screen Time that tracks how much time you spend on your iPhone, including the exact number of minutes in different apps. From your home screen, swipe right to find a summary. Tap the summary to dive deeper into it.

Google has a similar feature on some of its phones called Wellbeing(Opens in a new window). There are other third-party Android apps, too. PCMag hasn’t reviewed any, but you can search for “phone usage tracker apps” and find one that works for you.

2. Use Browser Extensions to Block Social Networking Sites

On desktops and laptops, one of the best tools you can use to limit your social media usage is a browser extension that blocks access to sites you choose. Some of them also track time on sites and apps, so those can do double duty.

RescueTime, which I mentioned above, has a feature for premium members that blocks distracting websites. It’s called FocusTime, and it figures out which sites distract you based on your previous history. When you turn on FocusTime, it blocks all those sites for a period of time you set. You can override any site that the app has identified incorrectly. FocusTime also integrates with other apps such as Slack, where it can update your status automatically to let people know not to disturb you.

A few browser extensions offer the same temporary blocking function. One that I like is called StrictWorkflow(Opens in a new window) (free, Chrome). It blocks you from sites that you choose whenever you opt into a phase of focused work by clicking the icon in your browser bar.

StayFocusd(Opens in a new window) is another good one. It lets you block sites permanently or set daily time limits for different sites. It also lets you block specific subdomains, specific paths or pages, and even certain kinds of content on a domain, such as videos.

Another way to block websites is to do it through your home router. Typically, there is a section for domain filtering. If you block a main website, such as Facebook.com, no web browser on your network will be able to open any pages on Facebook.

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3. Activate Time Limits in Facebook and Instagram Mobile Apps

Starting with iOS 12, you can set time limits for apps and groups of apps, such as social networking, games, and others. Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits and select the apps or groups of apps you want to include. Then, set a daily time limit. You can customize which days of the week it’s applicable as well.

The mobile apps for Facebook and Instagram have a time-tracking function, too. This feature tracks how many minutes per day you use each of the apps and gives you a daily average. It also has an optional time limit you can set for how long you want to spend on the app per day. When you hit the limit, an in-app notification lets you know.

The setting is called Set Daily Reminder. On Instagram, it’s under Settings > Your Activity > Set Daily Reminder. In Facebook, look for Your Time on Facebook in the Settings.

This setting doesn’t block you from accessing the app or even log you out. It merely tells you when you’ve hit the limit and then quickly disappears. It does, however, make you acutely aware of how quickly a few minutes of social media surfing can turn into 30.

4. Observe a Digital Sabbath

Rather than limit your social media usage to a few minutes per day, why not try cutting it out completely for a set period each week? In other words, observe a digital sabbath.

Similar to a religious sabbath, a digital sabbath is a time period each week when you eliminate certain things to focus on others. For example, you could eliminate all social media or all internet usage, over the weekend to focus on family, relaxation, and so forth.

With a digital sabbath, you get to make up the rules. You could say, “No internet from Saturday until Sunday, except for video calls and GPS maps to get around.” Or your rule might be, “No phones or laptops afternoon dinner and never in the bedroom.” Make rules that not only work for you but also give you the desired outcome.

5. Disable Notifications

Not long ago I heard a stat that the majority of people who own a smartphone don’t change the default notification settings. I was clutch-my-pearls shocked. Everyone should adjust at least some notifications, and if you’re trying to manage your social media usage, you definitely should.

Certainly disable audio notifications for social media apps that are giving you trouble. Also disable badges and banners. The next time you log into the app or website, you’ll see all your new notifications; you don’t need to get them first on your phone and then a second time in the app. Once will do.

How Will You Use Your Newfound Time?

If you manage to cut back on time spent on social media, how will you use your newfound time? Be intentional about what you’d like to be doing instead, whether it’s working with greater focus or relaxing without electronic devices. When you can name the thing you’d rather be doing, it can help you stick to your guns.