How Do I Quit Facebook? Just Follow These 10 Ways

Updated on June 24th, 2017 by Quertime Writer in Social Media

How do I leave Facebook? The answer seems easy enough. Just stop using Facebook. In truth it isn’t that simple. Facebook can become a time consuming addiction. Even when it’s clear that Facebook is not healthy, it can be difficult to make a clean break or even significantly reduce the amount of time you spend on it.

There is good news though. It is possible to remove Facebook from your life. Here are ten things to do to accomplish that goal.

1. Find Alternative Ways to Stay in Contact with Your Friends

Before you leave, get emails, Twitter handles, Snapchat information etc, from the friends and family members you want to remain in contact with. If you are able to stay in touch through other means, it will be much less tempting to go back to Facebook. Also, if people are able to contact you without Facebook, they probably won’t pressure you to return to the platform.

2. Hide Delete and Block People that Tempt You to Have Negative Interactions

You may find that your use of Facebook decreases if you simply block and unfriend people that add negativity to your life. This is a great solution for people who find themselves feeling negative and bickering with others on Facebook.

Use hide, delete, and block liberally. Not only will you spend less time on Facebook, you will also find the time you do spend is much more positive.

3. Block or Limit Your Access to Facebook

If you cannot fight temptation alone, it’s time to employ a bit of technology. You can use administrative security settings on your computer to block access to certain websites. Another alternative is to download software that will only allow you to get on Facebook for limited periods of time, or it blocks the website entirely.

Obviously this method is not foolproof. You can always just uninstall the blocker or change your settings. If you have a trusted friend or family member, and your addiction is truly damaging, consider handing over your password to them. Then, tell them to make you wait 24 hours before honoring your request to unblock or unlimit your Facebook access.

4. Find Other Places to Play Games

If you love Facebook games, you are certainly not alone. Many people spend hours per day on Facebook just for the games. If you want to figure out how to stop using Facebook so much, but still play games, do some research. Many of the games that you can play through Facebook are available elsewhere. In some cases, if you cannot find the exact same game, you will be able to find something similar. Check out gaming platforms such as Pop Cap or Steam. You may even find that some games have their own independent websites and mobile apps.

5. Actively Find Alternative Ways to Spend Your Time

Many people believe that it’s very important to replace bad habits with good ones. You might find it difficult to quit Facebook if you don’t find something else to occupy your time. Yes, you can and should resolve to spend more time interacting with friends and family, working, and getting healthy. However, it’s also important to find an enjoyable activity or two to do instead of Facebook.

It may help to consider how Facebook was meeting your needs, and then find something to replicate that in the real world. For example, if you use Facebook for gaming and socialization, try finding a comic book or game store that hosts game nights, or host one on your own.

Whatever you choose, try to ensure that the activity is fully offline. In fact, it might help to avoid the computer at all, even for studying.

6. Deactivate Your Account

Unless you’ve died, Facebook makes it nearly impossible to delete your account. However, you can easily go into your settings and deactivate this. For some people who are wondering ‘how do I leave Facebook’, this can be somewhat helpful.

Yes, it is true that all you have to do to reactivate your account is to log in again. However, what deactivation does do is make your presence on Facebook disappear for other people and yourself as well. As a result, you won’t receive tempting notifications and messages.

7. Get Any Images or Other Information You Might Need

Before you leave Facebook, grab anything you might need. Take snapshots of posts that you want to save. Download your pictures and put them in a photo album. Whatever it takes. This will remove any excuse to log back in to retrieve things later.

Think of it as removing a big source of temptation. If there’s nothing on your account that you can’t find somewhere else, you won’t have to get back on just to get a picture or video.

8. Reduce Your Online Time in General

Is Facebook the real problem, or is it just a symptom. People leaving Facebook often find that it doesn’t solve all of their problems. They still don’t get enough done, and they don’t spend enough time with friends and family. This is because they need to spend less time online as a whole.

It’s okay to start with Facebook, but you might consider spending less time connected to a screen. You’ll benefit from being more present in your life. So will your loved ones.

9. Limit Facebook Time to Purposeful Activities

One of the reasons that Facebook can become such an unhealthy time waster is because people use it to aimlessly surf. They scroll, check on other people’s newsfeeds, and watch videos. There’s no real purpose to it other than procrastination.

What does procrastination mean, and what does it have to do with Facebook? Procrastination is the practice of putting something off. Facebook is a great source of procrastination. Why deal with an unpleasant task, when you can simply surf through Facebook?

If you want to learn how to stop procrastinating by using Facebook, only log on when you actually have something to do. For example log on to respond to a Facebook message, or to send a happy birthday message to a friend. Then, log off and go on with your day.

10. Take a 30 Day Hiatus

Sometimes the best approach is to do a bit of a manual reset. Make a vow that you are going to stop using Facebook for thirty days. If you can only do two weeks that’s fine too. If you really believe you can go longer, that’s great. The important part is to commit to complete abstinence from Facebook. This means no messenger, so it’s back to regular SMS for texting!

Your ability to stick to this will let you know if you have the willpower to stop using Facebook. You’ll also learn some other things. Your absence will let you know what you truly miss about the platform, and what you find very easy to let go of. You will probably be able to identify some unhealthy patterns and relationships too.

Conclusion

If Facebook use has become a problem in your life, try to use some of the strategies detailed here. Before long, Facebook will loosen its grip on your life.