Author: Renata Richardson
Are the emails you receive and the articles you read at the beginning of a new year all about 'New Year New You' messaging? Mine sure are. The one I feel the most strongly about is this: A Digital Detox! It is one of the top resolutions this year for so many people.
Doom Scrolling, as it is referred to, is when you lose time watching, dare I say, nonsense, on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. (Honestly, I can get lost for an hour on YouTube...) While we love our phones (and iPads), we need to take a break from this constant companion. Social Media has trained us to be subconsciously tethered to whatever platform we watch so we don't miss anything.
Our cell phones serve important tasks - communicating with family and friends, the calendar alerts of things planned for the day, GPS is amazing, Google is fabulous and ChatGPT is interesting if not a little scary!
For me, it's time to do other things than be looking at my phone for things other than what I really need it for.
I have made a vow with myself to limit the amount of time on my phone. These are some of the things that will replace my doom scrolling and mindless phone and iPad activity:
- Call someone if I want to have a chat instead of text.
- Read more.
- Bake something new.
- Learn to crochet.
- Relearn to use my sewing machine.
- Try to meditate (so far, all attempts have proven futile).
- Write a hand written letter.
- Have coffee dates with friends.
