Scrolling Through Life

What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Do you stretch and thank your higher power for giving you another day? Do you meditate? Or do you grab your phone first? Do you check what happened in the world while you slept the night away?

British podcaster and life coach Jay Shetty recently posted on the CALM app that our brains are like a car. And cars don’t go from zero to 60 mph in a second. Our minds should not do that either. Many of us open our eyes in the morning and reach for our phones. Suddenly, we are bombarded by a hundred people. Some tell us what happened in the world. Others tell us why we need a new pair of jeans. Some share jokes. Others teach how to craft home decor. Some show us where to find the best deals. This is all before we even get out of our comfy bed! No wonder our minds are cluttered all day, and we feel overwhelmed, stressed, and depressed.

Scrolling has been declared the digital disease of the 21^st century. Just look around you. Where you once saw people sitting and chatting with one another, eye to eye, and smile to smile. Now you see hunched shoulders, dancing fingers, and glazed expressions. Face (time) it! We are lost without our phones or other digital devices. Even on the pickleball court, their phones are out while players await their next game. Watch the game, for heaven’s sake!

My last blog was about aging and sleeping through the night. It focused on the challenges of getting a good night’s sleep. I had recently attended a workshop sponsored by the Saskatoon Council on Aging. Dr. Vicki Holmes talked about our daytime digital habits. We now spend so much time looking at a screen. It is difficult to slow our minds down at night as a result. That affects the sleep stages and is partly to blame for our lack of REM sleep.

Research shows that children’s brains are affected by spending too much time scrolling. Adult brains are affected as well. Studies show adults who watch TV for five or more hours a day have an increased risk of developing diseases such as dementia, stroke, or Parkinson’s.

Have you heard of doomscrolling? Not doomsday, but doomscrolling. It’s a thing. Doomscrolling is the act of scrolling through upsetting social media posts. We’re not talking about the cute puppy posts (although they do make me sad because I want them all!), but we’re talking about the news-related posts. False and otherwise. It’s like your grandma telling you to eat up because there are starving children in Biafra. Doom and gloom. Sure, it got me to clean my plate, but it really depressed me. Now we are bombarded with similar “threats,” and grandma has been replaced by social media.

According to recent statistics, the average person spends just over two hours and 20 minutes a day on social media. That might not seem like much, but remember, it is an average. You may be spending more if you add it all up. A few minutes in the morning before you get out of bed. A few minutes during breakfast. A few minutes during coffee break, a few minutes in the grocery line—you get the picture. Next thing you know, you have logged a few hours online. I bet you even scroll while you’re watching TV! Multitasking at its finest.

“The negative effects of screen time are insidious because you can’t see what’s happening in your brain as you’re staring at the screen,” says Maris Loeffler, MA, Family and Marriage Therapist, member of the Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Cognitive Enhancement pillar. (What Excessive Screen Time Does to the Adult Brain | Cognitive Enhancement )

“If you scrolled on your phone in bed for an hour just one morning, the negative impacts would be minimal. But if it becomes a habit, day after day, month after month, this behavior can take a toll.”

“Passive screen time is like eating sugar but for your brain. It ‘tastes’ good, and you want it now, but you’re not actually feeding yourself. You’re not giving your brain any nutrition,” says Loeffler. “Instead, replace screen time with an intentional healthy habit that feeds your brain in a healthy way. Lifestyle medicine activities, like exercise, good sleep, social connection, and stress management, function like ‘nutrition’ for your brain and mental health.”

OK, so we know scrolling isn’t good for us. Like any addiction, the hardest part is admitting it is a problem. Do you think you have a scrolling addiction? Let’s see. Are you ever surprised at how much time you have spent scrolling? Do you feel anxious when you can’t access social media? Do you reflexively reach for your phone when you have a minute of downtime? Do you leave your phone out when you are at a café with a friend? Or during family supper? Do you find yourself justifying your need to scroll for “just one more minute”? FOMO is a constant influencer in our lives.

So how do we deal with this addiction? Like any addiction, it takes courage. It takes patience. It takes a lot of being kind to yourself and finding alternative actions. Here are a few things I am going to try:

Stay off your phone/digital device for at least one hour after waking. Don’t worry; those emails and digital tidbits will still be there. Have your breakfast first. Read a book (a paper book), talk to the dog, sit outside. Stay off your iPad!
Ask yourself why you are spending so much time scrolling. Why are you procrastinating? What is it that you really don’t want to do?
Think of the guilt you are going to feel when you realize you’ve spent the last two hours scrolling, the laundry didn’t get done, the dog didn’t get walked, you’re still in your pjs, and it’s time for lunch.
If you must be on your device, remember to take breaks. Roll your shoulders, look away, get up, and stretch.
Do something else!

Oh, look at the time! My next SA meeting is about to start! (Scrollers Anonymous)

Interesting Reads & Things