Doomscrolling. How To Eliminate Distractions
Are Smartphones turning us into Dumb-folks? Learn what is doomscrolling and how to stop it. Eliminate distractions from your phone and social media to be happier and more productive.
We have all been there. Interrupted by a beep, a friend request, or a notification by one of the many apps in our phone. Maybe we go check the current time and get lost into a rabbit hole for one or two hours. It happens. And it often leaves us emotionally drained and anxious. This detour is nowadays referred to as “doomscrolling” or “doomsurfing” declared as the word of the year in 2020 by the Oxford English Dictionary and defined as a “new term referring to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing” (Merriam Webster 2020).
Doomscrolling became a thing at the beginning of the pandemic when global uncertainty was at its peak. Humans get obsessed with the flow of information even if it makes them feel bad. This is known in philosophy and literary studies as the “paradox of terror” (Noël Carroll 1990) or the derivation of pleasure from gore, horror, fear, monsters, violence, etc. Similarly, social media users are often connected because they don’t want to miss a thing. Hence FOMO, the popular acronym in the cryptoworld and popular culture, translates as the fear of missing out. I recently read about a study conducted in Madrid that discovered that more teenagers today prefer staying home on a Friday night connected to the Internet rather than going out with friends.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Carla Marie Manly suggests that doomscrolling may be addictive, creating a false sense of safety and security, specially during times of uncertainty. Doomscrolling may also disrupt sleep patterns, lower attentiveness, and cause overeating. Extreme doomscrolling may negatively impact our mental health, making us feel anxious, stressed, fearful, depressed, and isolated. In a way, it rings true that anything that removes us from the physical space or reality, into a digital space to get lost for hours may be dangerous to our health.
Dr. Leela R. Magavi states that many individuals experience cognitive distortions such as catastrophizing, and doomscrolling could lead to increased ruminative thinking and panic attacks. “A vicious feedback loop draws people back to news and scrolling yet again. This transient assurance gained by reading the news worsens anxiety over time.”
If you are a creator, a supervisor, a student or basically anyone that needs to focus on a task or do something, your worst enemy is that mobile phone packed with annoying notifications. Smartphones are making dumb-folks. A smartphone is a versatile tool that also serves as a container for a world of games, productivity tools, social apps, photo filters/video editors, etc. Imagine an app and it probably exists. Really, try it and see.
The smartphone can be a powerful tool if used wisely.
But the most brilliant tool is your brain, don’t underestimate it and nurture it daily so you may start experiencing more moments of brilliance.
Here are some ideas to stop doomscrolling:
Delete all notifications on your phone and regain control. Check your phone when you want. Don’t let it boss you around. We are more creative away from our phones.
Delete apps and use your brain. Really, you are most likely not using your brain to its full capacity. The brain has plasticity and can be pushed beyond the safe limits. Consider going up Mt. Everest, surviving for weeks without water, running long distances, or free diving without oxygen. The brain can surprise us if we develop it.
Use screen time and set limits and alarms.
Delete addictive social media apps that give you the urge to scroll away.
Reduce the number of social media accounts.
Get some new hobbies outdoors that don’t require a phone, except for inviting others to join you.
Trim the number of people you follow or have listed as friends. Most likely you have people you don’t even know who bring no value to you. The longer the feed, the easier it is to scroll away forever.
Cut your smartphone action in half or more. Get into the world and use both hands.
Consider cutting your news consumption. Do you really need to hear and see all the negative news and junk that comes alongside the few headlines that matter?
If you do find yourself doomscrolling, stop and check yourself. How do you feel? Are you stressed, agitated, worried, or angry? Cut the cord that triggers these emotions.
What if you asked a stranger: Hey, is there anything newsworthy happening today? Maybe you make a new friend in a quick chat and don’t lose yourself in a newspaper or news site that wants your eyeballs to sell advertising. Once again, you are the product. Your time is being sold to brands that want your visibility, your attention, and ultimately, your money.
The technology that promised to connect us also controls and manipulates us, lighting up a multitude of other conditions.
The algorithms are programmed to favor tension, opposing ideas, and arguments that often turn into fights online. According to a Facebook internal report in 2018, 64% of the people who joined extremist groups on Facebook did so because the algorithms steered them there. When posts create discord and hate, they increase user engagement, which is precisely what these apps want from us…to suck every living minute of our lives so they can monetize from our time spent and get richer.
We live in a hyper-connected and fast-paced world that is flooded with information. Very recently I have been able to step away and see social media in general as one frantic lane I can get in and out instead of getting sucked in and taken away. I am in control of my time and my choices of what I want to consume and how to consume it. Scrolling on any social media app makes me lose ground and focus so my usage these days is minimal.
Maybe the reason we are so addicted to scrolling, news, and social media gossip is that there is an absence of thrill, adventure, and healthy positivity in our own lives.
Take some time and do an honest evaluation of your life. Do you have a mission and purpose that excites you and gets you to jump out of bed every day? Think about it.
Thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed the issue this week. Please share if you think your friends will find value. If you got it from a friend, subscribe here.
Talk to me. Feedback is sacred when creating anything. Send me comments, links, ideas, and questions. Just hit reply to my email and I’ll get your message directly.
Until next week!
Your fellow human,
-Jorge Fusaro