source: https://xkcd.com/1239/
Have you noticed the brain fog you get after scrolling through social media for a while?
And how "5 minutes" of quickly checking your twitter turn into 2 hours without you even realizing?
The good news: you're not alone. The bad news: it was designed this way.
How it all began
In the early days of social media, a group of tech wizards huddled in Silicon Valley, their eyes gleaming with the promise of a digital revolution. Little did they know they were about to unleash a force more addictive than dark chocolate with roasted hazelnuts.
These digital alchemists concocted a potent brew of instant gratification, social validation, and endless content, carefully crafting each feature to keep users coming back for more[1].
The like button? A stroke of genius that turned our brains into dopamine factories.
Infinite scroll? A bottomless pit of engagement that makes time disappear faster than home-made bread coming fresh out of the oven.
But here's the kicker – these same creators, the masterminds behind our digital obsession, are now frantically childproofing their own homes against their creations[2].
It's like a chef refusing to let their kids eat at their own restaurant!
Meanwhile, the rest of us are left mindlessly doomscrolling, our attention spans shrinking faster than a wool sweater in a hot dryer.
While our brains are rewired in ways that would make a neuroscientist's head spin[3].
You might be wondering now: are we doomed? Or is there a way out?
Reclaim your Mind
Let's face it: social media has hijacked your mind.
But don't beat yourself up about it, this happens to the best. Acceptance is the way to move out of it for good and repair the damage.
But what is acceptance? It's recognizing something without judging it. It's like neutrally looking at it with curiosity, like a scientist exploring new phenomena.
Start by observing yourself to assess the situation:
- how often do you reach for your phone during the day? (the average adult picks it up 58 times per day [4])
- how much time do you spend on it? (according to [4], that's 4 hours and 37 minutes per day)
- when you have time off, are you in the moment or do you feel the urge to check something "quickly" on your phone?
- when was the last time you just observed your surroundings instead of reaching for your phone?
Wake up
When you're amongst other people, try this: imagine you were somehow magically teleported into a movie. You're watching the scene with curiosity, wondering what the other actors do next, because you don't know the script.
You may notice, that others are often completely immersed in their little digital world on the phone.
When you stand behind them at the queue for checkout in the supermarket, notice how they just mindlessly scroll through notifications and social media. They aren't even reading it. They're just craving the next new thing that pops up on their screen.
Notice. But don't fall asleep like the others by reaching for your phone too.
If you feel the pull towards your phone, try this:
- identify 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can touch
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
This simple act can anchor you to the present, pulling you away from being hypnotized by that little digital thing in your pocket.
The Switch
Be aware, that it may take a bit of time until you rewire your brain accordingly.
The neural pathways you installed in there by being constantly on your phone for the last 10 years can't be undone in 2 minutes of realizing that this is the case.
You may even start to rationalize your behaviour now: you have to be on the phone and constantly on social media to bring your business forward!
It's one of your main sources of traffic and leads for your offer and you can't just drop it - even though you're realizing the damage you're doing to your brain.
I hear you. I had the same problem.
And then I applied what my old Taekwondo master used to say when we had to train in the summer heat in a hot Dojang (= gym): "iyeol chiyeol". It means to fight heat with heat.
The heat here is technology. Social media is technology. Your phone is technology. All those notifications are technology.
Lines of code that hypnotize you, pulling you away from experiencing the moment.
So how about we conquer it with technology? A few thousand lines of code that free you off being online the entire time.
That's what I did. I coded what I needed to get my time back and to restore my brain health.
To get buzz on my twitter account, so that my ICP sees me. To send new followers a warm welcome message so that they get curious about what I do that can help them.
That's probably how you found this blog post as well.
Now imagine, you can click a button and every single one of your tweets goes viral. Your ICP sees you because you engage with them every single day consistently. And this attention can be turned into warm leads for you with ease, since you send them your free lead magnet on autopilot.
This gives you the time and space to take care of your health, your life and of course your business too.
That's my reality. And it can become yours too if you like.
- [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6679162/
- [2] https://uxdesign.cc/how-is-social-media-designed-to-be-addicting-59e9179768d7
- [3] https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/trapped-the-secret-ways-social-media-is-built-to-be-addictive-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back
- [4] https://explodingtopics.com/blog/smartphone-usage-stats