Science Explains Why You're Addicted to Social Media -- and How to Break That Addiction How often do you find yourself trapped in your news feed?

By Ben Angel

Entrepreneur Network partner Ben Angel knows exactly why you can't go a minute without picking up your phone. It isn't because you're lazy or a millennial with no social skills. Instead, it has to do with the basics of psychology and a term called "operant conditioning." The concept is fairly simple: Your actions are influenced by the reward you received from similar, past actions.

For example, checking your news feed is rewarding. You connect with friends and people you admire, learn about the news and more. So, you associate your social media with a happy reaction, which leads to you wanting to do it more often.

In this video, Angel explains how you can replace that reward with something more productive and get more done during the day.

Related: Why Social Media Could End Up Killing Your Business

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Ben Angel

Entrepreneur Staff

Entrepreneur Network Contributor

Ben Angel, bestselling author of Unstoppable (Entrepreneur Press® 2018), CLICK, Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business, and Flee 9-5, is Australia's leading marketing authority. Founder of benangel.co, a site dedicated to providing entrepreneurs advanced online marketing courses and education, Ben provides easy-to-apply and even easier-to-understand strategies for reaching new customers with ease.

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