9 Productive Things to do on Your Phone Instead of Social Media (2023)
Internet and cell phones have given us many wonderful things in life. But there are certain aspects about it that are rather addictive than productive. One such thing is the use of social media. Anyone with an account on any of the popular social media apps would have had similar experiences.
Hence I wanted to share certain activities and productive apps to replace social media which could also help you break that social media addiction.
So here are the 9 productive things you could do, and apps to use instead of social media.
Also read – 5 Things to do Instead of Using Social Media Every Morning
Manage your finance
Keeping a check on your finances should be a daily activity for people of all age groups. Especially, if you recently started earning, it is a great habit to put early on.
There are multiple apps for this purpose, most of which are free and have additional paid features. Having a budget and a pictorial representation of your expenses will help you put things into perspective. The additional paid features can make the whole process easier by connecting your bank accounts directly. But, as a beginner the free features are plenty. Some of the popular apps to replace social and help with your finances are –
- Wallet
- Money Manager
- Monefy
- YNAB (You Need A Budget)
Check out this article by NDTV GADGETS 360 for an in-depth review of these apps.
These apps will help you start your journey of budgeting and help you make it a habit. The tools they provided will help you plan your budget and increase your long-term savings.
Track Your Investments
If you are in your 20s and have just started earning or have been for a while, making regular smart investments can be crucial for your long-term financial health. Investing a certain percentage of your income regularly combined with the power of compounding can help you save more money.
Depending on your investments, whether it be different stock markets, index funds, crypto, etc different app options are available.
I am invested in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) based in India and use these 3 apps to manage that.
- Moneycontrol.com – to keep up with the news around the stock market.
- Kite – is a mobile application by Zerodha, where you invest and trade in stocks
- Smallcase – provides you with a collection of stocks curated by experts in which you can invest by connecting your brokerage account directly.
Learn a new language
At some point in our lives, we have all wanted to learn a new language. In case you didn’t, you would be missing out on all its benefits, like improved memory, better communication skills, and well, knowing a new language. Either way, it is much better than scrolling through social media mindlessly for hours.
There are plenty of apps out there that help you with it. Based on your proficiency, you choose your level and improve over time.
Some of the popular language learning apps out there are :
Check out this article from Cnet which goes into detail about which apps will work best according to your needs,
Make, update and check up on schedule
Making a schedule by noting it down and following it rigorously can help you be much more productive. Every book, blog, or video about productivity will emphasize on the importance of making a schedule and tracking it. Even though it seems like a trivial thing to do, it does the work. Having a visual representation of what needs to be done through the week, will help you fill the gaps which otherwise you would spend procrastinating.
If any unexpected work comes up, make changes to the schedule accordingly but dont ditch the routine. Check it regularly to make sure you are not missing out on something.
You can either use your google calendar for this purpose or there are many other apps you can find specialized in this like :
Check out this article by Shopify to learn more about these apps and many more.
Listen to interesting podcasts
The last few years have been great for the podcast industry. It has become a mainstream source of entertainment, with multiple new platforms coming up and offering content on a wide variety of genres.
So pick a topic that you are interested in or keen on learning more about, do a little research about the best podcasts in that domain, and listen and learn new things.
It’s probably the most convenient and low-cost method to help you reduce screen time and also make doing meaningless chores more interesting.
Some of the popular apps out there to stream podcasts are –
Check out this article by The Insider to know more about these apps.
Listen to audiobooks
If you are an avid reader or someone who struggles to read books, audiobooks are a pretty great innovation that has become popular over the last few years. Similar to podcasts, it is a convenient and low-cost tool that will help you reduce screen time.
Especially while traveling or in need of some distraction, audiobooks can be a great tool. Much better than falling into the rabbit hole of social media.
Listening to audiobooks regularly is known to improve your vocabulary, listening skills, attention span, and critical thinking as well.
The most popular platforms to listen to audiobooks are:
You can check out this article by Android Authority to see more options and read its detailed review.
Install habit development apps
The best way to follow a routine and develop a habit like meditation or fitness routine is by keeping a track of it. It is important to allot a specific time that you will dedicate to this activity and regularly check up on the progress you have achieved.
Mindfulness is a form of meditation, which helps you to focus on the present. It has multiple benefits such as enhanced focus, improves self-acceptance, lowers fatigue, and many more.
Check out this article by Healthline to see which app will fit your need.
Similarly, the use of fitness apps will allow you to track your diet and progress, which will eventually help you to reach your milestones. Very often it also provides you with free workout routines as well as tips and tricks for your diet plans.
There are a lot of fitness apps in the market especially due to the stay-at-home situation we faced in 2020. Based on the workout routine you pick there are different apps you can use. Check out this article by verywellfit.com to see which app will suit you the best
Check out Forums
Reddit and Quora are probably the most popular forums out there. These platforms allow users to ask questions which are either answered by experts or like-minded people. People share their opinions, experiences, and general thoughts on a certain subject. It allows you to take part in discussions and stay updated on the subject of your interest.
- Reddit is a community-based discussion forum and news aggregator. It allows users to post content on a certain subject. This can be a question, an opinion or any sort of information someone wants to share. People can view this content and start a discussion within a post to share their opinions on it. Users also have the power to upvote if they like a post and downvote it if they dislike it, which affects the post’s visibility. Users can follow certain subreddits which give them direct access to the posts that they are interested in.
- Quora is a user-controlled, question-answer-based platform. This allows the user to ask questions and get answers from other users. The uses are allowed to vote for valid answers which put it on top and improve its credibility. You can also follow certain topics to stay updated in that domain.
Keep up with current affairs
The days of reading the newspaper daily are behind us. Today most of the popular news outlets are web or app-based. They can further be distinguished based on the kind of news you prefer to read. You might be looking for only finance, or sports, or the local news. You can find apps for all these kinds.
Some news apps use shorter formats of content which makes it easier to stay updated and reduces complications. A simple google search into the kind of news and content you are looking for based on the location of your choice should give you the best apps available out there.
I usually use Inshorts for this purpose. It provides you with all the important news around the world in less than 60 words. I’m also subscribed to an email newsletter by Morning brew. They send a daily newsletter highlighting stories about finance and economics in simple words.
Bonus Tips
Rearrange your homescreen
This is a small step but can be the important first step. The main reason why end scrolling through social media for hours is because of how accessible it is. If you can create a few obstacles in between the urge to use social media and actually clicking on the app, you might get that second in between to change your mind.
Also having some of the above mentioned apps on your home screen instead will make it more accessible. Over time this will help you be more productive rather than mindlessly scrolling.
Unsubscribe from unnecessary email chains
It is actually kind of weird to ask you to unsubscribe to emails that you probably haven’t subscribed to in the first place.
The logic here is to reduce the unwanted notification you receive and unwanted information in the mail. You might pick the phone to just check the mail but might end up wandering in the end. Let us avoid that.
Use apps that help to reduce screen time
I recently started using the app called Forest. It is intended to break phone addiction, eliminate distraction and maximize productivity according to its Play Store “About” section.
The basic idea here is that every time you intend to spend some time away from your phone you select a certain amount of time on the app and keep your phone aside. During this period of inactivity, the app grows a virtual tree which will be fully grown when the timer ends. If you use your phone in between your tree dies.
I know it sounds a little silly but it works. Sometimes when are motivated to make a change all you need is a slight virtual nudge to get you over the line.
Conclusion
This blog post is about things you can do on your phone that aren’t about surfing the web, checking your social media accounts, or playing games. There are some productive things you can do on your phone that you might not have thought about
Social media is a place for us to find ways of connecting with others, a place to meet new people, a place to share our opinion. It has become a part of our daily makeup. However, if you are like me, you know that sometimes you can get too caught up in all the social media sites that you start to let the time fly by. I have decided to figure out how to better utilize my time with social media.
I hope the above-mentioned alternatives are of help. But it is also important to remember that the change will take time and consistency. So make sure that striving to make a difference every day and eventually you’ll break the chain.
