'I have a social media addiction. To fix it, I did these 5 things.'

I've had Facebook since I was 11 years old. 

I remember my mother typing out my email address for me at the public library and then whispering in my ear to pick out a password "no one else in the world could ever guess." A password only I'd ever be privy to. 

With sweaty hands, I typed out: "J3susL0vesM1." Satisfied with my decision, I surged forward. 

The memory sticks out like a sore thumb, mostly because it is the beginning of everything for me — my foray into social media and then eventually my spiral into a social media addiction.

Watch: How to improve your daughter's body image. Post continues below.

I soon begged my mother for a phone, so I could check our messages regularly. Then I wanted to constantly take photos of myself and post them online so my friends might acknowledge how cool I was. When they didn't, I'd wonder what was wrong with me and how I could be better next time. Insecurity bred easily.

After Facebook came Instagram, then Tumblr and eventually I got Snapchat and Twitter (now known as X) too, so I wasn't out of the loop.

There have been other, more inconsequential social media apps I've downloaded, given my information to and then deleted after mere days or weeks of use. If there's a social media app, I've probably tried it. 

Now, I'm 25 years old now and feel like I am stuck in a rut because I am totally, undeniably, completely addicted to social media. 

The obvious solution would be to throw my phone off of a cliff, rent out a van and spend the rest of my life in solitude.

Except that's not entirely possible when the only skills I have involve cracking knuckles and typing on a keyboard. My entire life revolves around the internet, technology and social media. For so many years, I've known I need to rein it in, to lessen my time online. But when it's a requirement of my job to literally be online, it's hard to un-blur the lines. 

So I reached out for help.

Milly Rose Bannister founded the mental health charity ALLKND to teach young Aussies how to be better mates and support their loved ones. Working with young people every day, Bannister sees how "loaded" it can be for them to balance their relationship with social media and technology. 

"It's not our fault we are addicted, our brains have been targeted," she tells Mamamia. "Despite our good intentions, there is an incredibly vulnerable and significant power imbalance with technology."

But perhaps the first step to tapping out of the endless algorithm isn't to go against it, but rather to work with it.

Here are five boundaries I've set with social media.

1. Turn off the notifications.

Do you actually need to know who has liked your photo on IG or sent you a video on TikTok? 

You might disagree with me here, but the answer is an absolute no. 

Bannister says stripping back helps to set intentions. Essentially, when you click on a social media icon on your phone, you're choosing to go on to the app, whereas notifications take you out of the moment and distract you.

"We want to feel connected, instantly validated and gratified, and avoid the all-too-familiar 'fear of missing out.' We get down to the more sinister mechanics at play, such as the infinite nature of our social media feeds," Bannister says. 

"Terrifyingly, the scroll paralysis we experience borrows similar psychological targeting to poker machines through a psychological phenomenon known as 'variable reinforcement'. The unpredictable nature of digital content, the anticipation and intermittent reinforcement make it almost impossible to break free."

So with that in mind, I've turned off all notification apps, except Apple News and the Mamamia app (it's work!) so I can stay in the loop more intentionally.

If there's an emergency, I've let everyone know to contact me through my phone number. So far, it's working like a charm.

2. Unfollow and unsubscribe.

If you don't care about what you're seeing, reading or digesting, why do you still subscribe or follow it? It's time to make a clean break, says Bannister.

"If it doesn't make you feel good, you need to cut it off."

I used Unroll.Me to clean up my email (the app manages a cluttered mailbox by unsubscribing for you). I spent a good two hours on the weekend unfollowing businesses I didn't support and people whose content I didn't want to engage (and all while listening to an audiobook!).

I even let go of the meme pages. 

Now, my IG feed looks cleaner and, dare I say it, a little more boring. I don't really want to spend hours on the app anymore, because it's not nearly as interesting.

3. Charge your phone outside the bedroom.

Alright, I'm choosing to alter this rule because I can't wake up without an alarm basically inside my eardrum. So what I've been doing for the past week instead is banning myself from going on my phone at least an hour or two before bed and using a notepad to write ideas or reminders, to deal with the next day.

One evening, I wrote in my diary for a full hour. Another night, about 40 minutes before bed, I put my audiobook on with a 40-minute timer and zoned out (I know I'm technically using my phone still, but I wasn't touching it or scrolling!). 

Doing this has helped so much.

4. Tell important people you're pulling back on phone use.

"Let the people around you know about your intention to engage with tech and social media more mindfully, for encouragement and accountability," Bannister tells Mamamia. 

So I went ahead and let my housemate (and best friend) know that if he needs me, he's going to have to call me. Everyone else can wait.

5. Reach out for help if it's interfering in everyday life.

Feature Image: Supplied.