Living intentionally with ADHD is a skill we need to build. Especially when it comes to using social media. 

Sure, we love our baby koala videos and those silly Tik Tok dances. None of us are giving up social media. But, as we discussed last week, if you’ve got ADHD, all that time scrolling and focusing on other people’s lives is costing us at work, home, in relationships and our psyche.

So let’s talk about living intentionally with Social Media and ADHD.

How?

Pull out your answers to last week’s questions about ADHD and the cost of social media. (You can go here to answer them…I’ll wait).

Pull out a piece of paper and list out the social media platforms you use (even occasionally) and then answer these questions:

• What do you get out of this platform?
  
• How much time are you spending on it?
  
• How does it serve you?
  
• What is it costing you?
  
• Dig deeper and get honest with yourself…What is it REALLY costing you? (See last week’s blog for questions to help with this.) 

Living Intentionally with Social Media and ADHD

Okay, here we go. This is where we get down and dirty and take action. And you might not be ready for it, but it’s time. 

• Grab your phone and delete the social media platforms that have the highest costs for your ADHD and you. That’s right. Delete. If this is making you sweat, please refer back to the list of what it’s really costing you and ask yourself – do you want to stop what this is costing you? Do you want to live easier? Better? Healthier? If yes, DELETE.

• For those apps that have costs that aren’t detrimental but are impacting you, accept that you don’t need to see or read it all every day. Turn off notifications that someone has posted. Hide the app in a folder so you don’t see it on the first page. When you log in, step in and out. You don’t need to ‘catch up’ and see everything.

For the social media you decide to keep….

• Keep it simple. Follow fewer people, pages and groups. Do you really need to follow your third cousin’s neighbor? Can you leave the new mom group now that your son is in college or the professional group from two jobs ago? Do you care about every Tik Tok trend or influencer that’s popular?
  

• Know why you’re following someone. Is it to learn something, to keep up with someone or something because it’s cool or funny, inspirational, or seeing what your competition is up to… or what?
  

• Reduce / erase the yuck factor – where do you feel ‘less than’. Step away, unfollow, and stop pushing on the pain points.
  

• Set app limits for the ones you do keep – reduce the amount of time you spend on them and control the times of day.
  

• Post intentionally – the more you post, the more you get sucked in. Why are you posting? What do you want your friends or audience to know?
  

• Never buy immediately from an ad that is presented to you. Take a screenshot and look at it a day or two later. More often than not, I find I no longer want the thing after the initial dopamine hit goes away. 

• NEVER click on a link that is texted to you. You aren’t getting a package that wasn’t delivered and your account hasn’t been frozen.
  

• STOP. THE. NOTIFICATIONS. They are distracting and keep you from being intentional with your time. You can set your phone to stop notifications during certain times of the day (or completely) so you aren’t constantly distracted by new likes or comments.

To live beyond the struggles of ADHD, you have to shift into intentionality. Especially with social media. Get clear on who you want to be and take concrete actions to move in that direction. 

I invite you to go deeper into this topic! Check out Episode 146 of Kick Some ADHD here – on Intentional Social Media – for more tips on how you can approach social media in a way that allows you the best of the good stuff while minimizing the potentially harmful stuff!

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