- The Guide to Scroll Control
Bringing you the first-ever article from the “Demystifying Life” series, “The Guide to Scroll Control.” You might think this is yet another article counseling you to stop scrolling and get all productive. No. We are actually going to demystify this addictive activity and then see what we can do about it. I myself am navigating out of the infinite expanse of scrolling, hence standing strong to focus and complete this article in single sitting. Scrolling through short videos has made us restless and desiring quick gratification with no space for patience. Whether or not you are potent in reading this article till the end is itself a live reflection of whether you have fallen prey to this addiction. Don’t worry. We will also talk about potential and doable solutions in the end.
A compromised area of our mind due to scrolling is our precious attention span. By attention span, I mean how long we are able to concentrate on a single activity with maximum grasping power. The longer the attention span, the better the focus and concentration. No doubt, these quick tutorials, hacks, and solutions have a huge contribution to our productivity. But, prolonged and continuous exposure to infinite scrolling is what makes our attention span shorter. We get so used to these rapid informative/non-informative videos that it makes us restless and impatient when we need to focus on something for a longer period. We get irritated, we skip, we quit. What I am saying is, having access to this quick information is not bad; what is bad is getting caught in the unending flood of such videos. That is causing harm, not the videos.
Why is it that we find ourselves constantly wanting to do something, to progress, to achieve but often fail? Is it a lack of motivation, discipline, or inner spark? Why are some people “go-getters” and some “can’t-get-betters”? It’s the scattered energy and scattered willpower. Our attention span and willpower become so divided that even our minds struggle to focus on one thing for long. It’s the undivided attention span and willpower of those who are actually able to go get it. It’s this simple. Our breakable attention span also affects our ability of critical thinking and decision-making, which is a different story in itself.
When we wish to achieve something, a simple action to do is to focus our thoughts, emotions, and feelings on that goal. If they are scattered, we might fall short of the spark. If you see where I am going with this, in the daily scrolling, we interface with an endless number of activities, ventures, hacks, hobbies, and whatnot. To elaborate, today you might wish to awaken your inner chef on seeing an interesting recipe, and tomorrow you would wish to grow a kitchen garden, and the day after tomorrow you will find yourself dreaming about your long-lost singing hobby. With all these scattered interests, we fall short of energy for our actual goal. This is a simpler version of “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Another affected region is our “feel-good” hormone, Dopamine. This quick and endless flow of vast content at our fingertips feels so amazing, hence, poking the dopamine for temporary happiness. We get so familiar with this temporary happiness in our routine life that actual subtle happiness like book reading, good weather, cooking, etcetera starts fading. These temporary feel-good things give rise to procrastination which leads to disappointment, which comes down to anger, frustration, and regret. We call this distraction in common words.
There is a thin line between entertainment and addiction, and that thin line is knowing where and when to stop. The addiction of scrolling enters and settles so subconsciously and minutely inside us that it might take ten such articles and videos to light a spark of sanity. The effect of this happens so behind the scenes that it might go unnoticed by us for years. It snatches away our sanity to act and think over a course of time, and when we look back for reasons, we only find regret. A regret that we might forget and get back to scrolling again.
We often feel we are losing control over life, not doing what we want to and are supposed to. It’s because we are allowing such addictions to take control of our days. If our days don’t look productive, our life certainly won’t. And by not stopping scrolling, we are making it a habit. A habit that is actively taking us deeper into the dungeons of disappointment and regret in front of our eyes.
Let’s see what we can do to set free. I am going to list out a few things that helped me get things back in control.
– Take a pause. Take time to think.
When you feel like diving into the expanse of scrolling, think to yourself, “Is this the right thing to do at the moment?” We are not actively thinking most of the things we do in a day. This is a result of our routine tasks. But if we find ourselves stuck in such a loop, its always better to bring back the active thinking which helps us make more rational decisions.
– If you still can’t stop, don’t get into a comfortable position while you scroll.
Getting into a comfort position gives you a lot more scope for continuing. Rather sit straight and upright. When you begin to slouch, it’s time to stop. For example, when we are in bed, we have nothing to do before we fall asleep. So a little bit scrolling seems harmless. But we get so succumbed that even if we start feeling sleepy, we are not ready to shut it down. Hence, its better to avoid scrolling in comfortable positions.
– Taking a social media break from one app will only lead to scrolling in another app.
Instead, catch yourself scrolling like you would catch your kid. This works like a miracle. As I started keeping a watch on myself for non-stop scrolling, it got easier to put the phone down. What happens is, when we go into a passive state while scrolling, our active mind comes and interrupts giving us an opportunity to think and act wisely. So give your active mind that opportunity to dominate your passive mind and see the improvements.
– “Practice what you preach.”
As I started drafting an article about scrolling addiction and talking to people about it, there was an automatic barrier set in my mind when I reached out for my phone to scroll. A barrier made of my own teachings and advises that tells me to stop. Realize and construct one such barrier and you will notice the difference.
A very simple thing to keep in mind is when we are giving in to the scrolling addiction, we are trading time for temporary happiness, and we all are smart enough to figure out which one is costlier. It’s high time we think, restore, and reorganize. If this continues, we are definitely not going to like the long-term results.
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