What is doomscrolling?
Like many of us, the very first time I learned about the term “doomscrolling” was during the summer of 2020.
During this time, I found it exceptionally hard to seperate from my phone. The world as I knew it was going through so many changes and I was doing my absolute best to just keep up with it. I would wake up scrolling, scroll in-between meetings and sessions and fall asleep with my phone in my hand. Little did I know there was a whole entire word for what I was experiencing: doomscrolling.
Doomscrolling looks like: “spending a significant amount of time looking at your respective device(s), with the anticipation of reading, viewing and accessing bad or negative news stories and events.”
This definition scratched a particular part of my brain, as I felt some relief knowing there was a whole word to accurately describe my habitual scrolling. Doomscrolling is something that many of us have, or are currently, experiencing — with so many unexpectant, scary and anxiety-provoking stories coming in all at once, it can feel imperative to learn about all of them right now.
What’s important to recognize here is when regularly staying informed in what’s going on in the world turns into anticipating terrible things happening every time you swipe up. Expecting and always preparing for doom and gloom can negatively impact your mental health and serve as a significant distraction with your daily routines and responsibilities.
The truth is that some parts of social media can genuinely help inform you of important information and news, but you want to mindfully notice if you’re repeatedly scrolling and refreshing your feed in anticipation of the worst. Here are 3 mindful ways to interrupt doomscrolling, while staying informed:
1. Set timers and reminders for yourself to pause or step away from stressful content.
After coming across a news story that includes difficult news, practice recognizing when you have learned enough information. Limit your exposure to overly produced and/or sensationalized media, as this can increase feelings of stress outside of the actual news content. Set a timer and/or reminders for yourself before scrolling to help set boundaries with this.
2. Notice how often you’re reaching for your device out of boredom. How else do you want spend that time?
Unfortunately for many of us, reaching for our devices has become reflexive. Habitually, we are pulling up social media and news apps because we are “bored” and it helps “kill time”, which can lead to doomscrolling.
Practice replacing that habit with something you want to do instead. Instead of reaching for your phone out of boredom, keep a book, puzzle, journal or coloring handy. Challenge yourself to spend some intentional time away from screens during your day to interrupt this habit. Which leads us to our last idea . . .
3. Intentionally spend time away from screens every day.
Even if only for a few minutes, do yourself a favor and schedule time away from screens on a daily basis. Build this time into your schedule and invite others to join you!
To support you on this part of your burnout recovery journey, check out my guided journal, Self Explore, Self Restore, to learn even more ways to take care of yourself during this time.
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