Though many people may not have heard of it, there is a new addiction called "Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD)" according to Michael Fenichel, Ph.D.Facebook has been a great innovation for keeping in touch with friends. However, it is very easy to spend too much time on Facebook. If you are spending all your free time taking Facebook quizzes, checking your notifications and sending stickers and green plants, it's time to break the habit.
- First thing you need to do is to admit that you might have an addiction to Facebook, and always keep track of what you actually do on Facebook. Ask yourself each time you spend so much time on Facebook; "What did I just accomplish by checking Facebook?" Most times you're probably just logging in to see if you've been poked, or for updates of when your friends change their profile image...and do other little things that you can really live without knowing. At first you might be confirming a new friend, and next thing you know, you've spent an hour looking at all the new people you're connected to. Keeping track of your Facebook activities can help you realize how much time you actually spend getting nothing constructive done.
- Limit your Facebook time at work to your actual break/leisure time. There is really no reason to distract yourself by checking Facebook every 5 minutes.
- Disable the automatic e-mail alerts from Facebook. You don't need to be reminded every time someone sends out a two-word comment. Do that through the settings menu
- Limit the number of Facebook friends you have. You don't have to add everyone who sends you a friend request as a friend. Having a smaller group of friends will help you focus on friends you want to keep in touch with.
- Think of other things you could do with the time you spend on Facebook. If you find yourself spending, say, 14 hours a week on Facebook, Think of all the other things you could accomplish in that time.You could:
- Teach a child how to throw a football
- Get some exercise doneGet a girlfriend
- Spend real time socializing with people really in your life
- Pick up a part time job and invest that money in stocks
- Clean your room
- Read a book
- Use such controls as EzInternetTimer or TimeUpKidz, to limit the time you spend on Facebook
- Once you've discovered your capacity for being addicted to Facebook, you should probably avoid other social networking sites like MySpace.
- Changing your password to a long string of numbers,can actively decrease the frequency of your Facebook visits,. Write this down on a piece of paper, and place it somewhere that is annoying to reach or out of reach. This way, whenever you want to log on, you will need to dig out the paper for your password. This is to deter you from logging on by making it a chore. If you start to remember the numbers, just repeat the process.
- Stop using Facebook mobile to update your status etc. Uninstall it from your phone if you have a downloaded version (ie. iPhone, Palm etc.)
