Doomscrolling: The Struggle To Get Out Of Bed

How did we get here? In recent years, with short-form content on social media becoming inescapable, a certain habit has seeped and encroached its way into many peoples' lives, breaking past generational and cultural barriers: the Doomscroll.

Originally referring to the act of spending excessive time online looking at negative content such as fear-mongering news stories, 'Doomscrolling' has taken on a life of its own as a catch-all term for mindless consumption of empty content online, particularly when it comes to endlessly swiping through short-form videos on apps like TikTok and Instagram. We've all been there - waking up relatively early, then spending the next 2+ hours aimlessly wandering the abyss of social media instead of getting out of bed, remembering none of it, then regretting it as you solemnly have your breakfast at one in the afternoon.

It's not necessarily our fault; after all, this is a result of years of companies constantly vying for our attention, employing very smart individuals whose jobs is to figure out how to keep even another microsecond more of attention and retention than their competitors. Attention is the most valuable currency today. However we, as the people, still have agency and we can do our part to get ourselves out of this messy habit:

• Consider keeping your phone far from your bed when you go to sleep. This means you will have to leave your bed to reach your phone, making it more likely for you to start the day as you will already be out of bed. If you still need an alarm close to you, you can look for a physical alarm clock.
• Indulge in any hobby, or even momentary silence. While adjusting out of mindless scrolling, picking up a hobby, heading out for a walk, doing random silly little things, or even just sitting in silence and thinking can help keep you occupied with something engaging that you'll likely get something out of. Listening to music, watching that film you always said you were going to watch... These were once considered 'brain rotting' activities, but nowadays seem pretty mindful in comparison.
• Set a time limit on your phone for the culprit apps, and if possible, give the unlocking passcode to someone you trust. A friend of mine does this, and it seems to work well for breaking any scrolling habits. If you need to message people, you can use platforms like WhatsApp.

These are tips that I think are quite useful, whether because they helped me or they helped someone I know, but different things work for different people, and that's okay. You may find one of these tips is completely useless but another is life-changing. Ultimately, you should do what you need to do to break out of the doomscrolling rabbit hole. I'm just here to help.