TikTok can be a highly addictive social media app, and stopping watching TikTok can help you take back control of your valuable time.
For kids, teens, and adults alike, TikTok can become a difficult addiction to control. In this article, we'll show you 3 concrete solutions to stop watching TikTok. They're highly effective and can work together to help you overcome your addiction and reduce your TikTok consumption.
You can follow these tips to spend less time on TikTok and share these tips with people who need help to stop over-consuming TikTok content.
Before we get to the solutions, you must find your "why." And being aware of the risks of TikTok addiction will give you even more intrinsic motivation to stop watching TikTok videos or lives.
Why stop watching TikTok?
The issue with TikTok, and social media in general, is that they are designed to keep you on their platform for as long as possible. TikTok has designed its navigation and recommendation system to ensure you spend as much time as possible on their application. As a result, it's incredibly easy to grow addicted to TikTok or lose track of time when scrolling through it…
Here are the 3 main issues caused by a TikTok addiction:
🧪 Dopamine system dysregulation
By watching TikTok videos, our brain gets rewards immediately, releasing dopamine effortlessly and bringing pleasure. Our brain will then crave more dopamine, which can push us to spend even more time on TikTok. This imbalance can lead to a loss of motivation to put effort into our daily life.
😵💫 Reduced concentration ability
By being consistently stimulated by very short content, we're no longer accustomed to maintaining focus for long periods. As a result, our attention span and concentration capacity decrease.
❤️🩹 Loss of valuable time
TikTok is seriously addictive, and time slips away on the platform. TikTok users spend an average of 55.8 minutes per day on the app, as per recent 2023 figures. It's the top social network with the longest average daily usage time. Think about it – what if you had invested your time on TikTok to learn a musical instrument or read books...
How to stop watching TikTok? 3 Powerful Strategies
If TikTok is an addiction for you, cutting or limiting the amount of TikTok videos you watch will improve your well-being. In this part, we will show three highly effective strategies to stop watching TikTok so much.
🔒 Strategy 1: Use Jomo to limit or block TikTok
Like any addiction, quitting TikTok overnight isn't easy. You need to take gradual steps so your brain doesn't perceive a sense of deprivation.
Jomo is an iOS app that gives you back control of your screen time. It allows you to limit the time of any app's use and block apps during specified days or hours, such as evenings. It's the perfect app to help you quit TikTok.
PS: Jomo isn't available on Android yet, but there are alternatives if you search "block apps" on the Google Play Store.
A good place to start for gradually and effectively quitting TikTok with Jomo can include setting a TikTok daily usage limit of 20 minutes. Here's how to do this in 3 easy steps:
1️⃣ Step 1: Install and Launch Jomo on Your Device
Jomo will help you consciously spend less time on your smartphone. The interface is very easy to use and will let you go further than the iPhone's native settings to manage your time on apps like TikTok.
2️⃣ Step 2: Add a condition to set a TikTok limit
Go on the "Rules" tab at the bottom and select "Conditions". Then select the "+" at the bottom right of your screen and go to "App limits". Now the condition setting will open. You can select TikTok as the app you want to block and set a usage limit of 20 minutes per day for example.
3️⃣ Step 3: Confirm the TikTok limit by selecting "Add"
The TikTok limit is now set. Once you reach 20 minutes of TikTok usage, you will get the following message:
As you can see, you cannot restart TikTok and use the app for the rest of the day. It's extremely effective to limit your time on TikTok and not exceed more than 20 minutes of TikTok per day.
If you upgrade to Jomo Plus (Jomo’s premium edition), you can add a second condition, such as blocking TikTok and social networks after 8 p.m. Thus, in addition to helping you manage your TikTok time, this will assist you in limiting your smartphone use after sunset to improve your circadian rhythm.
The more you progress, the less you'll feel the urge to go on TikTok. If you want to block TikTok immediately, you can either uninstall the app or block it completely using Jomo.
You can do that by going to Rules > Sessions. In "Sessions", you can select an app to block, such as TikTok and select "Always on" as a session type to permanently block the TikTok app.
🔎 Strategy 2: Keeping yourself busy with other activities
Have you ever noticed that your screen time takes a nosedive on vacation? It's pretty simple: you're doing other stuff, maybe bonding with loved ones and enjoying outdoor activities.
You're not always glued to your smartphone, and chances are your mental health is in a better place. TikTok isn't on your mind because you're too caught up.
You can dive into many activities instead of mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, and they're genuinely good for you. We've handpicked our top 8:
🍳 Cook a delicious dinner to unwind and let your mind wander after a day's work.
🌲 Take a stroll in a park, soak in nature, and balance out that sedentary lifestyle.
🎶 Learn to play that musical instrument you've always dreamed of. Just 20 minutes a day with focus can lead to impressive progress in a few months.
🤙 Hang out with friends or call up loved ones to strengthen connections and catch up.
📗 Read a book on a topic that intrigues you, or give your mind a break with some fiction.
🏀 Practice in your favorite sport or give yoga a shot if you've always been curious about it.
📝 Start a gratitude journal, jotting down things you're thankful for or positive moments each day.
🗣️ Improve your second language by joining language exchange events, often found on sites like Meetup.com.
🌿 Strategy 3: Try a dopamine detox
The problem with dopamine, our pleasure hormone, is when it is produced excessively and consistently, such as when we spend too much time on TikTok. The brain acclimates to a particular amount of excitement and pleasure, making everyday activities like exercising or reading a book particularly dull and unsatisfying.
A dopamine detox aims to reset your brain and dopamine levels. Doing so allows you to enjoy your daily duties and even work. It's a wise decision that will dramatically improve your attention, productivity, and motivation.
To begin a dopamine detox, limit your exposure to activities that provide quick dopamine hits, such as:
👾 Social media and short content like TikTok videos
🎮 Video games
🍑 Adult films
🍔 Fast food and sugary treats outside social occasions
For a smooth approach, set up a continuous session on Jomo and limit each social media app to 10 minutes a day. Once you have adapted, you may even try a complete 7-days dopamine detox.
Breaking your TikTok addiction may feel abrupt, but it is effective. Sure, you could get bored at first, but you'll quickly find healthier ways to occupy your day.
But be careful... it's all too easy to fall back into old routines. Setting realistic time limits on Jomo is therefore helpful to taking control of your dopamine levels and truly breaking free from the TikTok bind.
Quitting TikTok is tough because the platform's short videos have rewired our brains for effortless dopamine hits. But it's totally possible. The three strategies we've laid out are seriously effective and will gradually help you break free from a TikTok addiction.
Cutting down on your screen time will rewire your levels of attention and concentration. Once you start, you'll feel a direct improvement in your overall well-being. Getting started might be the toughest part, but Jomo's got your back to help you cut down your time on TikTok and on your smartphone!
🔗 Average time spent per day
✋ Illustrations by Jomo ; Photography Unsplash
Made with love in Brittany