After you wake up in the morning do you check your phone first of all to see what has happened overnight? There might be quite a few things to check up on -- text messages, Facebook, Google News, Pinterest and Instagram to mention a few. Instantly your mind is loaded with information, ideas and images of other people’s lives. And then there’s the issue of how often you recheck all these apps throughout the day.

Social media can also have many good uses such as checking on sick friends, or staying close to out-of-town friends or family, but there can also be serious drawbacks if not managed properly. For some social media tends to get them thinking more about their physical life instead of their spiritual life and relationship with God.

In our fast moving world how much time do you allocate to thinking about God, studying your Bible and praying? Reading the Bible requires us to calm our minds and focus on what a passage might mean. If your attention span has been totally shot by all the instantaneous distractions of the Internet, it can be very harder to focus.

The author of the article linked below mentions five strategies which helped her manage the problem:

• Put first things first and spend time praying and studying in the morning before checking your phone
• Do any of us really need all those apps on a phone? Delete some you don’t need and consider adding a couple of Bible apps
• Use a timer when on social media -- you might be surprised how much time you are actually spending on your favourite sites
• Schedule a regular ‘screen free’ day
• Ask God for wisdom to help you manage the issue wisely