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My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

allthatjazz.me

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Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#111

Post by mcbuilder »

jy14898 wrote: post #30

Does everyone really mean doom scrolling when they talk about these issues? For me personally, it's definitely about dopamine and not about negative emotions, yet everyone uses the phrase doom scrolling - am I the odd one out? For example, if I'm feeling stressed/anxious, I'll scroll/browse/distract myself to avoid the negative feelings. I'm not seeking them like doom scrolling says.

I feel the phrase came into common use during COVID pandemic, so things certainly felt more doom and gloom then. The connotation I think is with the type of negative content being consumed, which exasperates your own feelings.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#112

Post by matltc »

Recommend olauncher, a text-based launcher, in lieu of default:

1. No icons -> less temptation to open another app

2. Faster because you only have to type part of the name, eg typing 'po' opens Spotify (for me)

3. Probably less resource-intensive since we're just rendering text

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#113

Post by goatlover »

rbanffy wrote: post #99
Bluescreenbuddy wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The doom refers to the news and info type.

In 2025 it's fair to say it's just scrolling. The doom part is implied.

Very much depends on what content you consume. The shy has always been falling, but there's plenty of other stories.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#114

Post by james-bcn »

renegade-otter wrote: post #11

The struggle is real. I wrote about this a while back: https://renegadeotter.com/2023/08/24/getting-your-focus-back... What you are doing is "self-limiting" which is not very effective. The devil on your shoulder will always fight this - "don't tell me what to do!" The wanting to not doom-scroll should be intrinsic. I know that right now, for obvious reasons, it's easier said than done.

I think the secret is:

a) Make your feeds more worthy and less attention grabbing by blocking anything that isn't one of your specific interests.

b) If you make good use of your time, you'll find doing stuff more interesting than scrolling.

I've written about this too: https://thisisjam.es/reflecting/on-information-diets/

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#115

Post by chikenf00t »

dspillett wrote: post #21
lloeki wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a Garmin watch for alarms. Frequent conversation: "oh you have a smartwatch" "no it's dumb in all the right ways, which is the point" Notably I have notifications but can't act on them, which prevents me from picking up the phone just to check notifications and then be drawn into doing actions. YMMV.

> I use a Garmin watch for alarms. I've tried that, but found them to be too easy to sleep through unless my watch wrist is very close to my head (without a pillow between it and my ear). The sound isn't particularly loud and the vibration is similarly shallow. Useful for reminder alarms when I'm awake though. My current success is using the Amazon branded wiretap for alarms. Interacting with the dumb cloth-eared irr…

Can you explain what the "Amazon branded wiretap for alarms" is? I did some searches with those terms but can't really understand what you're referring to.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#116

Post by xnorswap »

the_snooze wrote: post #90
arccy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you can't act on them, don't you have to pick up your phone anyway? if it was a bit smarter you can quickly act on it, but using a smartwatch is so uncomfortable you wouldn't want to use it for anything unnecessary.

>if you can't act on them, don't you have to pick up your phone anyway? Not necessarily. My smartwatch is basically a beeper. I see messages come in, then I mentally prioritize them. 90% of the time, it can wait at least an hour, maybe longer. It's conditioned me (and people around me) that instant reachability is neither necessary nor desirable. It makes it easier to focus on what's in front of me instead of constan…

I don't know how true this really is, but I read somewhere there is a generational divide now, where older people are happy to see an SMS and leave it to respond later, perhaps days later, while the younger generation would consider "being left on read" as an offence and therefore would feel compelled to immediately act on it to not offend.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#117

Post by daveguy »

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is LeechBlock for Firefox. With it, you can set up site block lists that will either never allow access or allow access after a period of time (60 seconds default) and on a schedule.

I have found this helps because when the motivation is that dopamine hit, the delayed start generally gives me enough time to think, "I should be doing something better with my time."

Edit: of course you can reconfigure and delete LeechBlock, but if you are committed to reduced scrolling it helps. (Obviously I haven't been able to do it with hackernews yet.)

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#118

Post by Nevermark »

jy14898 wrote: post #30

Does everyone really mean doom scrolling when they talk about these issues? For me personally, it's definitely about dopamine and not about negative emotions, yet everyone uses the phrase doom scrolling - am I the odd one out? For example, if I'm feeling stressed/anxious, I'll scroll/browse/distract myself to avoid the negative feelings. I'm not seeking them like doom scrolling says.

No matter how much we wish we could stop, we are doomed to scroll.

It’s one of the lesser levels in Dante’s Inferno. We are in hell.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#119

Post by Alex-Programs »

InsideOutSanta wrote: post #93
renegade-otter wrote: post #11

The struggle is real. I wrote about this a while back: https://renegadeotter.com/2023/08/24/getting-your-focus-back... What you are doing is "self-limiting" which is not very effective. The devil on your shoulder will always fight this - "don't tell me what to do!" The wanting to not doom-scroll should be intrinsic. I know that right now, for obvious reasons, it's easier said than done.

"The wanting to not doom-scroll should be intrinsic" For me, it is, but I would still automatically open Reddit or Twitter when compiling code, and then get stuck in a loop of looking at interesting and/or annoying stuff. The solution was easy, though, I just put all of these sites, Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, etc. into my hosts file and pointed them to localhost. It took about a week for this automatic beh…

I do the same. There's also the bonus that, even if you want to quickly remove the block, it'll take a few minutes to apply unless you go through the bother of wiping the DNS cache.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#120

Post by 4ggr0 »

matltc wrote: post #112

Recommend olauncher, a text-based launcher, in lieu of default: 1. No icons -> less temptation to open another app 2. Faster because you only have to type part of the name, eg typing 'po' opens Spotify (for me) 3. Probably less resource-intensive since we're just rendering text

i use such a launcher and still do,

1. Unlock Phone

2. Swipe up, type "ti"

3. TikTok opens

4. Let the doomscroll commence

I do love these simple launchers, though!

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