My Dilemma

What’s doom-scrolling?

We’ve all been there.

There have been days that I’ve gotten home from work, sat on the couch, opened Instagram, and just started scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling.

And scrolling.

Eventually, I end up watching reels that I have no reel interest in (haha, see what I did there?) and end up getting frustrated at my phone. I’ve slammed my phone facedown on the couch, and even thrown it across my (carpeted) living room.

It’s like I’m suddenly waking up from a nightmare.

Even if I set a time limit on a certain app, if it pops up, I constantly find myself clicking the “ignore” button, telling myself I’ll close the app in another 15 minutes, when the next notification pops up.

Suddenly, it’s been 45 minutes.

I’m mad at myself for wasting time.

I’m frustrated at the internet for making it so easy and unrewarding.

If I spend 45 minutes reading a book, I feel uplifted, refreshed, and even productive. Most days, I would kill for 45 minutes of uninterrupted time with my book.

But 45 minutes on my phone? Leaves me feeling empty. (Hence the name: doom-scrolling.)

Picture this: You get home from work, and before you plop on the couch, you grab your book. You set your phone on the kitchen counter. An object at rest stays at rest, and you are the object – with no phone within reach. Just you and your book.

Instead of doom-scrolling for 45 minutes, you have time on the couch with your book to unwind after a long day at work. Or even on a weekend.

Rather than plopping down with nothing but a phone in hand, try mixing it up with a book. Get in one more chapter. Allow yourself those minutes to relax without a harsh, bright screen shining in your face.

This is not to say that we always have to be productive. Oh goodness, would that be tiring…

But, we don’t always have to be reading up on the girl that was in our history class eleven years ago, or the guy that was a grade above us and had a kid when he was seventeen. We don’t need to crown our brain with countless reels that strangers make every day.

You deserve a deep breath.

You deserve a plop on the couch without a phone.