We’re living in a world of “If you didn’t post it on Insta, did it even happen?!” which means it’s pretty easy to succumb to the never-ending social media scroll. You can unlock your phones and – as if by dark magic – it’s three hours later and you’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of watching people ‘strip wash’ their clothes on CleanTok.
If it’s not midday TikTok distractions or Apple News alerting you with another disheartening story, then it’s Piers Morgan’s latest tweets sending you into a spiral of hot rage. (We’ve all been there, babe.)
So what is doomscrolling?
While the name might sound like a budget horror film, it’s actually much more than that.
Doomscrolling (also known as doomsurfing) is the act of using an excessive amount of screen time and consuming soul-sucking content. The kind of content that makes you want to bury every bit of technology you own and run away to live off-grid.
We all know the correlation between social media and mental health. The endless doomscroll can seriously affect your mood and motivation, not to mention it’s a total time-waster.
Why does it affect digital marketers?
As digital marketers, our jobs are largely online which means scrolling through social media feeds 24/7 is literally what we get paid to do.
We’re taught how to build an online presence by showing up, being consistent and providing the goods. So it comes as no surprise that our screen time is slightly higher than average.
It can be very difficult to distinguish between ‘work mode’ and ‘play mode’ when we’re spending so much time online. When it’s our job to research news trends, how do we avoid the negative stuff? How do we not get sucked into the digital black hole? Can we find the sweet spot between social media and mental health?
We’re going to talk about the ways you can ditch the dreaded scroll and begin to live more mindfully online.
Limit your screen time
Let’s start with the most obvious one… Limit. Your. Screen. Time. We know it’s easier said than done, but you’ll thank your future self when you go to bed headache-free.
You can monitor your time spent online, schedule downtime and even set limits for individual apps via your iPhone! Just go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits and allow yourself 45 minutes each day to surf the ‘gram. Avoiding doomscrolling isn’t as complex as it seems.
Fill your feeds with goodness
Seek out the content that feeds your soul. Happy news? Yes! Empowering marketers telling inspiring stories? Yes, yes! Videos of puppies falling in love with baby pigs? Yes, yes, YES! To make your time online worthwhile, cultivate your feeds so that you’re only digesting content with #goodvibesonly.
Looking for positive accounts to follow on Insta? We’ve got you covered.
The Happy Newspaper (@thehappynewspaper)
The Happy Newspaper exclusively celebrates positive news stories from across the world. Its colourful aesthetic and joyful news updates will make your heart sing.
Roo from Pure Gallus Social (@puregallussocial)
Roo’s upbeat Insta Reels will give you your daily dose of serotonin and get you in the marketing mood. Nothing screams joy more than funky dungarees and a good ol’ boogy to S Club 7!
Girls in Marketing (@girlsinmarketing)
It would be rude to not add our own account to this list! Follow us on Instagram to join the digital marketing revolution and meet other like-minded marketers.
Unlock your phone with intention
How often do you check your phone just for the sake of it? It’s super easy to mindlessly scroll without no idea what you’re looking for… then BOOM! You’ve been sucked headfirst into the core of the internet.
Try setting a conscious intention every time you unlock your phone to avoid doomscrolling. Do you need to search for something? Check a hashtag on Instagram? Text someone back? Only unlock your phone if you have a purpose or a task to carry out. Otherwise, just leave it be, girl.
Remove temptation
Calling all people guilty of checking their emails at ridiculous times of the day: your phone doesn’t have to be a mini laptop.
Ready for some more truth? You don’t need to be reading marketing trends sat on the toilet over the weekend.* Save it for Monday morning.
Remove any work-related apps from your phone (if you can’t do this, just banish them from your home screen instead.)
*Unless you really really want to.
Hit the reset button
What if you could practise new habits to reduce the risk of doomscrolling and learn to readjust your mindset? Every time you get the urge to look at your phone, focus that same energy elsewhere. Make a cup of tea, journal for ten minutes (or even listen to an episode of the Girls in Marketing Podcast!) Take the time to reset and soon enough, you’ll rediscover how to thrive offline. It’s a lie that you have to choose between social media and mental health. With a bit of discipline and determination, the two can live harmoniously.
