Doomscrolling (2 of 7)

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Hi!

If you’re like most people, checking your phone is a

mindless habit.

Any time you’ve got a spare minute, you pick up the

phone and check out those emails, scroll through the many

social media accounts, and of course, the news headlines.

It’s as though you can’t stand to just sit still for a

minute and be alone with yourself or let your mind rest.

To help yourself break out of this unconscious habit, try

allocating certain times of the day for checking your phone.

Try to avoid times like first thing in the morning or right

before bed, though, because those times will start you off

on a bad note and make it harder for you to fall asleep and

get a good night’s rest.

It's important to give your mind time to settle before bed,

and scrolling through websites or consuming news of any kind

right before you try to sleep will leave you in a state of

restlessness.

Instead, choose times when you’ll be more alert and conscious

of what you’re doing: on your lunch break, after dinner, after

putting the kids to bed. Whichever times work best for you.

The key is to leave your phone out of sight for the rest of

the day. If you don’t have it in your hand, you’re not going

to be doomscrolling through the headlines.

And if you’re not doomscrolling, you’re not feeling as

helpless, stressed, and anxious.

Take this a step further even and set some resolutions and

intentions with the time you spend on your mobile device.

Maybe during lunch, you plan to check in on your favorite

social media account and engage with your online friends.

Maybe you’ll check on the news in the afternoon. If you

can “put a ring around the time you spend doing this,” says

Kat Nichol, “this can help you avoid a never-ending doomscroll.

Try setting your phone down and walking away altogether,

especially during work hours or when you're under a time

crunch or deadline and can't afford to get off track.

“In this time of heightened stress,” says Dr. Amiti Narurkar,

a Harvard physician, “you can’t expect to not check your phone.

However if your phone is 10 feet away, it becomes an intentional

choice to stand up, move away from the workstation and go

check my phone.”

Psychologist Kimberly Wilson also suggests what she calls

the “two by two approach” to protect your mind when the news

is overwhelming by limiting your news viewing to two good quality

sources that you check two times a day.

“While it’s important to be informed,” she says, “there is a limit

to the usefulness of this information for people who don’t have

any power to intervene. Instead, it just increases a sense of

powerlessness, fear, and uncertainty.”

If you only check your phone’s news outlets twice a day, and limit

yourself to trustworthy news channels, you’re less likely to start

doomscrolling and stress yourself out.

Your anxiety levels will lower, and you’ll feel more in control of

situations and day-to-day life.

Block your internet access during the rest of the day, or at least

block the social media platforms you’ve been mindlessly scrolling

through all day.

Turn off notifications or even delete the news apps that feed you

catastrophic and disturbing headlines, and do your best to limit your

screen time (30-minute intervals, perhaps, and only at certain times

of the day).

Taking control of your screen time will give you control of your

life back. You’ll be able to break the doomscrolling habit quickly,

and feel more like your old self again.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about using mindfulness to break

the habit.

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