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1.
We all know that social media can be bad for us, but I am starting to think social media is just a symptom of a more significant problem – overstimulation.
Since we always have our phone or computer near us, there is never a dull moment. Whenever there is a second of downtime, we can always keep ourselves occupied in some way. We never let ourselves be bored anymore. Even when we think we're bored, we still scroll through Instagram or watch Youtube or just look at some stuff on the internet. We're never actually doing nothing, even when we're bored. When is the last time you stood in a long line at the bank and didn't pull out your phone?
I've noticed how this has affected me in the last few months. I've been having trouble focusing at times. It's hard for me to give any one task my undivided attention for more than 30 minutes or an hour. Even when I watch TV, I'm usually derping around on my tablet.
The problem is this overstimulation and the fact that we always need something to keep our attention.
So here's what I've been doing:
1) Less multitasking. Try only to do one thing at a time. If I'm watching TV, I only watch TV – no phone or tablet. No endless social media scrolling. Do one thing and give it attention. Focus is a muscle that needs to be trained like any other. If you're stuck on line at a store, just stand there.
2) This one is more complicated but also much more beneficial. For the last few weeks, I have tried to spend 30 minutes a day doing nothing. Not just stepping away from social media – nothing. Sit on my couch with my eyes open, and just sit there. No phone or tablet sure, but also no book, meditation, music, or stimulation of any kind.
It's not easy. The fact that it's hard though, tells me that it's a good thing to be doing. I want to learn how to be comfortable being bored. We shouldn't need constant stimulation. This continuous stimulation is a recent phenomenon in human history, and I suspect that it's leading to a lot of scrambled, unfocused, anxiety-filled, ADD brains.
I've noticed genuine positive effects from the forced nothingness. It's not the same thing as meditating. This is harder. By keeping your eyes open, you have no choice but to deal with whatever pops into your mind. I wouldn't call it meditative, but it is peaceful, and I think healthy. After just a few weeks, though, it's already getting much easier doing nothing but being alone with my thoughts.
It shouldn't be this hard to be bored. We shouldn't need to be stimulated all the time. That doesn't just mean stimulated by screens and electronics either. It means everything from reading a book to playing basketball or going hiking. By constantly looking for distractions, we're preventing our minds from genuinely being at rest.
I'm not sure exactly what to conclude here or what all of this means, but it is something I've been thinking a lot about recently.
Maybe it's healthy to learn how to be bored.
- Sean M. Cover
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