We’ve all found ourselves in a doom scroll. Whether it be on Instagram, TikTok, or whatever other social media outlet that benefits from the consumer’s time on the app. As a result, they push short videos with lots of stimulation to keep you engaged, and before you know it, you’ve found yourself behind the screen for much longer than you intended. I have often found myself being enraptured in this escape of a world. Where the real-world lies, I have many responsibilities; school, work, soccer, Mandarin classes, etc. It is a constant battle of what homework or what task I must complete next. The stress builds and builds, and throughout the day, I want nothing more than an escape from reality. A world where no homework needs to be done, a world where no task needs to be completed. As I know, this escape of a world is accessible to me in the palm of my hand. Who am I? But a mere mortal, I crumple like a crouton in a bowl of Caesar salad. The urge to open the app for just one second, maybe to check what Ryan’s daily NNN post is: “I wonder if he’s posted something strange about his balls today”. After I check Ryan’s post, I check to see what my other close friends are doing, and with the brittleness of a crouton I crumble, and I find myself on the explore page. I start with just a couple of short videos, but then I’m hooked, and just like croutons, you can’t have just one, you need a lot to make your salad a delectable treat. (Except this isn’t like a salad, because a salad leaves you feeling fulfilled, doom scrolling leaves you feeling empty) have guessed) then I need not worry about the possibility for me to pick up the phone.I check the time after ten minutes: “I have time to do homework, just a couple more minutes”. I look up after twenty-two minutes, “Ehh, I can keep on going until thirty, plus I need a little brain break”. Before I know it, it’s been three hours, and I’ve done absolutely nothing that I consider productive. The phone is a short-term relief, but the instant gratification takes the reigns on my conscious. It’s a battle between me, myself, and I, and if there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I can’t win against myself. It’s like boxing a mirror, there is no good outcome. To get rid of this crumpling crouton syndrome. I’ve found that the best solution is to completely get rid of the “other me”, I must defeat the “other me” and to do this I read a quote from “The Art of War by Sun Tzu” which states “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” This implies that if I know my enemy (me) and know myself (me, again) and recognize their weakness (me, again, bet you couldn’t My own weakness is my height, and as a result, I have devised a master plan. I use a step ladder to put my phone on the top cabinet above my fridge, sitting next to this random duck where it is out of reach. I keep it there until I have done a significant amount of work that I feel content about, and then I allow myself to grab the “stairway to heaven”, and employ it to reach my escape world.
Though this may seem extreme, the consequences of doom scrolling can be fan-fucking-not-tastic, especially in my world of Asian grades, university applications, and overall overachiever-like syndrome in everything. I know many people like myself suffer from crouton syndrome, and if you’re having problems mediating your enemy (yourself) I highly suggest this method. I found it extremely effective, and I hope you will too. Here are a couple of links in case you wish to dive deeper into the psychology of crouton syndrome, or if you’d like to take a less extreme approach.
Lianne L-Z
16 Comments
Mateo
12/1/2023 01:41:42 pm
Lianne dawg, you're so real for this. I doomscroll every single time I have to do homework or study, and in general relate to avoiding the tasks I need to do on a daily basis. I like the idea of finding a place for your phone so you won't grab it or anything and will most certainly apply this technique into my own daily life :)
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Lianne
12/1/2023 01:43:12 pm
Sorry, the formating of my blog got messed up :/ so it doesn't really make sense, one of the paragraphs is in the wrong spot.
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Em
12/1/2023 01:44:16 pm
ive definity had my fair share of doom scrolling. Ive never thought of putting my distractions out of reach. ill give it a try!
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Portia
12/1/2023 01:45:00 pm
I relate to this extremely, I always scroll on tiktok when I first wake up and I end up waiting until the very last second to wake up. I'll try this method and keep my phone away from me until I'm done doing what I need to do.
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Merle S
12/1/2023 01:46:27 pm
I can agree completely with that. I always say to myself that I just want to stay a bit on my phone after school but then I am on my phone for 3 hours or even until dinner. I really like your idea of putting your phone in places you cannot reach. Maybe I'll should try that next time
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Logan
12/1/2023 01:47:11 pm
I have a major issue with most social media because I have a very addictive personality and when I find myself on social media I often fall down the rabbit hole and end up scrolling for hours. to counteract this Ive found I had to delete it to keep the temptation away. i found i can really relate to this blog, good work
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alanna
12/1/2023 01:49:00 pm
I am a huge procrastinator so being able to relate to something like this is super nice. I will for sure give your strategy a try! Great job.
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sarah
12/1/2023 01:49:38 pm
This is so real, I always tell myself that I'do it in a few minutes and I just keep pushing it back and sometimes I don't even end up doing it. Hopefully one day we can all get out of this habit but I'm not sure if that's totally possible
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Janvi
12/1/2023 01:49:45 pm
I liked how relatable your topic is, I relate to it so much. I had my fair share of spending to much on my phone and regretted it all after. I liked how used your weakness to your advantage.
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Rosetta
12/1/2023 01:51:33 pm
I can relate to this so much. I will check my phone and come up with excuses to justify my actions and I know I will always regret it after but I keep doing it every day. I honestly want to throw my phone out, it puts my mental health and grades at risk every day.
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Sunsia
12/1/2023 01:52:09 pm
I doomscroll all the time and its really not a good habit. But one thing abt me is that once i become determined i must achieve it. So once i want my phone i will climb that ladder regardless if what i have to do. Glad u found a method that works for u tho. Im still working on mine haha
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Taylor
12/1/2023 01:52:45 pm
I can really relate to this because I know for me I always say I'm going to get off my phone but make excuses on why I can stay on it longer. Recently I'm always aware that I have other things to do but tend to get distracted so so so easily by my phone. I love your blog, great work!
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Brody
12/1/2023 01:58:43 pm
I can definitely agree with this. It is often I find myself looking at the clock and realizing I've been staring at my phone for the past hour without noticing. I also found the term crouton syndrome funny.
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Jaden
12/1/2023 01:59:42 pm
It is really impossible to not fall into the trap of doomscrolling (including me), because our brain bulit in the way cannot refuse to get that dopamine hit. But as Lianne wrote, it is super worthy to fight with another self of ourselves that is not helpful and if you put some effort to change, we will finally conquer your own self.
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Cooper
12/1/2023 02:03:35 pm
I've been in the endless loop of just scrolling for hours and hours to distract myself from other responsibility's.
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Laetitia
12/1/2023 02:09:16 pm
An interesting method to keep yourself off the phone. I should try that too. Thanks for inspiring.
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