To reduce your screen time on Instagram, you can do the following:

Turn off notifications; sounds simple but most of us are not ready yet.
Unfollow people you don't interact with; keep the close ones close.
Mute messages and move people to the general category.
Mute accounts and stories; only get updates when you want to.
Actively count the number of Reels you are watching.
Set daily app limits for Instagram to avoid coming back.

Why is it so hard to reduce screen time on Instagram?

Once you create an Instagram account and start using it, its algorithm understands what you like and caters content accordingly.

What you see is affected by what you are interested with as well as the interests of people you follow and interact with.

Additionally, once you start sharing Reels and other content with friends, you are constantly invited back to contribute and keep the cycle going.

If you are serious about reducing your screen time then read on; these steps keep getting harder.

Turn off notifications to avoid excess Instagram usage.

Bohoo, turning off notifications is perhaps the most commonly recommended suggestion. It is so easy and asinine in nature though not a many are able to actually do it.

Reasons you may want to turn off Instagram notifications:

Stop seeing messages from friends who are sending Reels that add no value.
Avoid comments for likes, comments and notifications that give you a cheap dopamine dose.
Stay away from distractions that come through just because you want to have a little peek (which ends in a 30 minute scrolling session).
You will not look at your notification centre every now and then - just focus on productive work.

Unfollow people on Instagram who you do not interact with.

I cannot fathom the inner workings of someone who has 90 followers and follows 5698 accounts. Even if 10% of those accounts are active, you have 500 people whose stories and posts you might see daily.

That's a large number; freaky even if you can't commit to reading 500 pages of a book in a day but this seems perfectly normal.

Start unfollowing these account archetypes:

An account that hasn't posted in a long time.
Accounts that spread news and posts that cause you distress.
Celebrities and famous people - you are way too invested in their life to bring changes to your own.
Accounts of brands and businesses that are bent on selling you something new under the guise of a holiday or offer.
Accounts that have ghosted you or people you met once, interacted with, followed and then never got in touch with.

It's a lot of meaningless visual food on your plate; clean it up and get ready for the next step.

Hard mode: reducing screen time on Instagram with extreme measures.

Now we will get into the more extreme and hard to maintain methods when it comes to reducing your screen time on Instagram.

Mute messages and move people to the general category

"What's the point of muting messages from people when you have already turned off notifications for Instagram?"

This is super important to note: Instagram will show you in-app notifications whenever someone texts you. You might accidentally open the message when posting on your business account or just get distracted from leaving a meaningful comment reply on your Reel.

Muting people helps to avoid this app behaviour - now, you can simply check the messages section whenever you like and see your DMs.

Why the General category? Over time you will get tired of seeing the same annoying people DM you over and over. Moving them to the General category on Instagram helps you make the conscious decision to see those messages when you are mentally ready for them.

Reels increase your screen time on Instagram, avoid them

I run an alternate account for my Beyblade collection and it saddens me to see people have spent over 100 hours watching videos of spinning tops.

Ultimately I can only guess how many hours people spend watching these Reels tailored to their interests at that current point in time.

When it comes to watching Reels, yes I do watch them, but with minimalist principles:

If a friend sent them, I watch them late night post work or during my lunch break.
For Reels in the Reels or For You tab, make sure you actively count the number of Reels you are watching in one go. Stop when you reach 10 or so Reels and think about anything else that you can do to improve your day.
Take the joy out of Reels by using the same methods I use to reduce screen time on my phone in general.

Set daily app limits to avoid overuse.

Lastly, if you still feel that there's a need for someone to supervise your screen time on Instagram, simply set daily app limits.

See how much time you spend on Instagram and set it to half. So for 2 hours spent on Instagram daily, start with 1 hour for your limit.

Gradually over time, reduce this by 25-50% each month until you are happy with the time spent on the app.

Closing notes

The kale method is to delete the Instagram app and use the web version though it may get inconvenient to use; I personally cannot do that since I need the app to test Instagram filters I create.
Deactivating and then getting back on the app feels like a bigger loss than trying to reduce screen time on Instagram and failing. Once you give up, you will find yourself scrolling on that app for hours on the go.
If you are looking to reduce screen time and adopt minimalism, get my mantras for free or sign up to my newsletter. You can also access all blog posts here.

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