At times, I feel like I am stranger to myself. Doomscrolling and consuming content second by second - a dopamine rush of entertainment that can be detrimental to my brain. The past few days, I kept on picking up news from other people about politics and state affairs and it’s beyond terrible that left me disturb, knowing that I also paid taxes. The realization of working everyday and government officials steal the taxpayers’ money and the awareness of that left me perturb.
So I deactivated my social media and sometimes, it’s better to protect your peace but it does not mean being ignorant of the happenings around you.
Our era was filled with countless contents around the world, filling the Internet and it’s there to distract your brain, involving yourself, ordering online, consuming information from other people that isn’t factual, and searching for information that’s already there. Discernment and judgment on information and content are important to segregate what’s factual, what’s reflected your values, and coincide with your views in life.
After a period of doomscrolling, I had this feeling of being empty, like I did not do anything, just spiraling into the rabbit hole of social media – from reels, shorts, to posts, whether funny, satire, protests post, and stories of other people.
My brain keeps telling me to stop but my eyes were glued, even to the shittiest contents or shorts. Consuming garbage and junk food that aren’t healthy for the brain. This feeling of regret. Of wasting my time. Of rotting in bed. Of feeding unhealthy information to my brain.
But with changing your habits that leads to brain rotting. The overconsumption of digital content can create mental fogginess, shorter attention span, and even reduced reasoning skills. The deterioration of our intellectual and mental state can affect our well-being. Brain rot content can negatively affect our perception and even our discernment.
The brain was meant to be stimulated with discourses with other people, books, intellectual debates, healthy conversations, and physical applications of knowledge and other things that make our brain function. The advent of AI and Internet enable us to search for and find anything, without going to the library and searching for some books to research.
Our lives were built now for convenience and there’s few lefts for discovery, but do we have to settle for something that can have a ripple effect on how our mind functions. Instead of letting ourselves be fed by information on the Internet and social media, why not discover it in your own way.
How do we overcome this? Firstly, limit the time spent on your phone. Deactivating social media. Uninstalling social media apps.
These initiatives can help you spend more time on yourself. It does not have to be an intellectual activity.
When was the last time you were bored? That kind of bored that you did not do anything – except rotting or staying in bed, but the kind of boring where you just go outdoors and stare at the scenery in front of you. I’m part of the generation where we transitioned from keypad phones to touch screens and it did not necessarily to have a phone when I was younger back then, so we have more time to hang out. Just simply talking with each other when we are not busy with school stuff. We find ways to entertain ourselves, physical and mental games, the dramatic open forum, watching dramas, even gossiping like those aunts in their backyard.
Stay away from the phone for at least hours or limit your time but be wise of using your phone.
Once you start scrolling through your phone, notice yourself right away. If you’re beginning to be devoured by the rabbit hole of overconsuming low-quality content, take a pause and close your eyes. One thing that I did was to deactivate my social media and uninstalling them, just staying from the noise of the online world. Once you stay away, you’ll notice the change.
I had this period in my life when I had no phone but the danger of it. I spent loneliness in solitude but it’s a different situation since I was battling with depression. But the peace of being gone from the face of social media, when no knows what you are doing at that moment, or they have no news of my whereabouts. That’s when I have time to focus on my recovery.
Spend time outdoors. Walking around the neighborhood. Walk your pet. Go outside early in the morning. Consume food without phone so you can savor the flavors and textures of your food. Think of the hobbies that you in the backburner or activities that you want to try. This could distract you from consuming content from your phone.
Pick up those yarns and threads to crochet and knit. Read intellectual books that will stimulate your brain, any genres that stimulate your imagination and critical thinking. Go hike and appreciate nature and the scenery before you. Reserve time to rest and put your phone far away from your bed. Brain dump everything on a pocket notebook.
Here’s my list of to-dos to avoid spiraling into the rabbit hole of digital content that results in brain rot:
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Study again. Pick up some interesting philosophies or theories that you want to revisit.
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Journal your thoughts. Search topics on Pinterest that you can write about.
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Watch classic films or even films that are high rated from Letterbox then do write a reflection or how you perceive the flow of the story in the film.
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Do something creative. Open your Carrd account for directory and organization purposes.
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Listen to brain-provoking podcasts and even podcasts that focus on a field that interests you, like the environment, psychology, and people’s behavior and even literature.
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Make a passion project. Compile your writings and create an e-pub/pdf then post it on your platforms. If you have extra money, buy crafts and revisit your old passions. Or just pick up those crafts and materials that you ignore for some time. Even books that were left unread.
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Create a short story or even a shorter narrative about your day, a villain’s POV, a male lead’s POV, your friend’s POV or your POV. Don’t mind about the plot or the flow of the story.
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Spend time in nature. What if you got on the bus without a destination in your mind? Find a place where you can sit, like the seaside or the rice fields.
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Pick up those papers and oil pastels or watercolor then paint. Drew inspiration from the physical surroundings or even from your Pinterest.
There are a lot of things to distract our brain from digesting low-quality information and content from social media.
Unrot your brain. We are inherently social people and have a mind on our own. We are meant to grow and experience different and new things. We have our own life to ponder. Unrotting means prioritizing what matters.
Your mind and your life.