In terms of energy, happiness, peace of mind and hours, how much is your scrolling habit really costing you? By Jess Stuart
Many of us are noticing a decrease in our ability to focus, a shortening of our attention spans and, all around us, a rising prevalence of mental health issues.
This has occurred at the same time as our smart phone revolution. A coincidence? It may be true that scrolling has become the new sugar.
In terms of energy, happiness, peace of mind and hours, how much is your scrolling habit really costing you? Jess Stuart speaks to Breakfast. (Source: Breakfast)
Constant connectivity: a double-edged sword
Don’t get me wrong, our devices have revolutionised the way we work and our livs but there are undeniably some negative consequences too. We find it more difficult to switch off from work these days, having our emails in our pockets. The lines between work and home have blurred with mobile and hybrid working.
Technology has quickened the pace of how we work so we’re getting more done and yet our brains are not always keeping up. Burnout continues to plague overworked high achievers who can’t resist the urge to get more done in less time.
It’s also how we connect socially which is important. But, equally, we need to disconnect, a practice crucial for cultivating focus and giving our busy brains a break.
We’re also increasingly lonely in this overconnected world – how did that happen?
‘Living beyond human scale’
It’s not just the elevated stress and the time-suck of phones, it’s also the impact on our energy, mood, resilience and focus. The very things we need to stay well at work, to be at our best day-in-day-out and achieve our potential.
You know what it’s like approaching a busy day, a never-ending to do list and some complex problems to solve or information to process with a mind that feels suboptimal. A brain that is tired, distracted, foggy or just not as sharp as you know it needs to be.
American academic and author Brené Brown observes that we’re facing a whirlwind of AI, social media and wearable tech, causing instability, an untethered feeling, and mental exhaustion. She calls it living beyond human scale. Our brains have not evolved at the same pace as all this tech to which we’re now exposed.
This is the impact and it’s pervasive at work. From not being able to articulate ourselves well in a meeting, forgetting important details, making silly mistakes or an inability to listen well – we notice these traits in ourselves and possibly in others and they usually come from a lack of focus and an impairment to our cognitive function.
The hidden costs of our device obsession
Research has shown that all that doom scrolling is making us miserable. It causes neuroplastic atrophy, leading to reduced attention, memory issues, and cognitive fatigue. It’s led to Oxford University Press, coining the term “brain rot: the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state” after the overconsumption of material considered to be “trivial or unchallenging”.
A 2015 study by Microsoft found that the average human attention span dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to just eight seconds in 2015, attributed largely to digital technology use.
It’s not just our focus and mood though, it can be such a drain on our time. Even a quick check of the weather can lead us down a long path of reels and baby goat videos an hour later.
Start with your device habits
Emma is a senior manager in a busy corporate role. Like many professionals, her work phone became a constant companion, pinging with emails, Slack messages, and updates well into the evening. She found herself scrolling LinkedIn and checking emails out of habit, even during downtime with her family. Over time, she became increasingly distracted at work, struggling to focus in meetings and feeling mentally exhausted by mid-afternoon.
After tracking her screen time and experimenting with device-free times, Emma began to notice a shift. She created boundaries by turning off work notifications after 6pm and leaving her phone in another room during dinner and before bed. Within a few weeks, her concentration improved, and she reported feeling more in control of her time and her brain.
Liam is a freelance designer who noticed that every time he hit a creative block, his instinct was to pick up his phone. Ten minutes of Instagram would turn into an hour of scrolling, leaving him feeling drained, behind schedule, and uninspired. He also found himself comparing his work to others’ online, which impacted his confidence.
He set himself a challenge: no social media until after 12pm each day, phone-free mornings to protect his creative focus. By making this small change, Liam reclaimed a solid block of deep work time, and his productivity soared. Most importantly, he felt less anxious and more creatively fulfilled .
If you’re looking to create more time and space in your day, I reckon this is the most impactful place to start, our device usage.
Use social media, but don’t let it use you
I’m not suggesting we don’t use social media, rather we use it in a way that works for us and not let it use us. These are weapons of mass distraction, literally designed to keep you scrolling. Add to that the actual content – the negative news stories, constant perfection ideals – and it’s not just about quantity of what we’re consuming but quality too. We don’t always feel good about ourselves or the world once we put the device down.
Four tips for managing your device usage and regaining time and focus
1. Remove unnecessary notifications. Just keep the ones you really need so that your phone isn't constantly buzzing and flashing and getting your attention with things that don't matter.
2. Use a screen time app. That way you can monitor your usage and it's good to have a limit in mind so you’re aware when you’ve gone over it. It also tells you where you’re spending your app time so you can decide if that’s beneficial or not. In this setting you can also set time limits for certain apps. I need this for Instagram!
3. Have mini device detoxes. That is, set periods during the day and at weekends that you don’t use your device and can do other things instead.
4. Have a phone-free sleep zone. The smallest thing that has made the biggest impact for me, is not taking my phone into the bedroom. It can be hard if we use it as an alarm but not having it there means it’s not the last thing I look at before bed (disrupting my sleep) and not the first thing I pick up in the morning.
With a background in HR, Jess Stuart is now a Waiheke-based career coach and the author of several books including: Burnout to Brilliance and I Love Mondays.
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