We Have So Little Free Time in the Day – Why Do We Spend it Watching and Reading Slop?
If it seems like we have less time now than ever before to do the activities we want to do, that is partially true. Most New Yorkers are working more, taking their kids to more after school activities, and trying to navigate a variety of personal and professional obligations with little time for self-care, or to enjoy the activities we tend to enjoy most.
Still, there’s a catch here: most of us are addicted to one of the most “time sucking” activities that we can engage in. We’re doomscrolling. Or, if not literally doomscrolling, we’re watching TikTok videos and Facebook Reels for hours and hours on end.
If you work from 9am to 5pm, and you have kids, you probably have maybe 2 hours total in the day that you can spend on your own needs and desires. And yet the average New Yorker spends 2.5+ hours per day scrolling (some of that time being at work, in the bathroom, or while their child is at an activity).
This means that there is no time for anything else. So why do we do it?
The Trick of the Mind with Scrolling
One thing to consider first, however, is that scrolling tricks the mind into thinking that it is a relaxing and enjoyable activity. We’ve talked about this in the past with digital overload. When we scroll, we feel as though we’re relaxing and doing an enjoyable activity. Scrolling creates a sense of engagement, sometimes laughter, and stimulation. It also makes our minds and bodies feel more relaxed.
But this is a trick. One of the reasons that we feel relaxed is because of the exact opposite issue: we’re overloaded. Our brains were not meant to process that much information at once, and so it starts to shut down, leading to this feeling of relaxation that is actually caused by being overwhelmed.
What happens when we’re doomscrolling, then, is that we can get lost in this feeling that we’re doing an activity for ourselves only to feel like we “never have any time for ourselves” because we are not relaxed. Scrolling sucks our time away, often without us even realizing it.
With that in mind, why would we want to doomscroll anyway? Why do we watch so many Facebook Reels? Why does reading thousands of posts about politics and the world, or watching countless short videos seem appealing?
- Gambling and Reward – Your brain treats scrolling very similarly to the way it treats gambling. At any moment while we scroll, we may see a post that we like – one that makes us laugh, is exciting, etc. We never know when that post is coming. So our brains are trained to keep scrolling to find the next post and get that next jolt of excitement.
- No Natural Stopping Cues – Scrolling is infinite. Reading a book, watching a movie – these have natural stop and start cues. But scrolling never ends, so our brain doesn’t really have a way to tell itself that it’s time to end it.
- Lost Sense of Time – Scrolling through hundreds, if not thousands of 10 second clips makes it harder for the brain to process the passage of time. The clips themselves seem very fast, making us feel as though not much time has passed, and yet we’ll look and it has been an hour or longer. With the brain overwhelmed by how much it’s processing, we forget that we’ve viewed that many videos as well since the vast majority are immemorable.
- It is Stimulating and “Relaxing” – We’ve not spoken at length about how the sense of relaxation you get from scrolling is a lie, but we do “feel” relaxed, while at the same time because scrolling is so stimulating, we do not typically get the sense of restlessness that makes us want to get up and do something else.
- Fear of Missing Out – Because there is an unlimited amount of content we can see, we worry that if we don’t keep scrolling we’ll miss the piece of content that may provide us with our next dopamine hit.
- Sense of Control – For those scrolling politics and world events, scrolling gives the impression of having a very small amount of control over what is otherwise a chaotic world. When we can learn what’s going on, read people’s “takes,” feel informed, etc., it gives us a sense of having a bit more control over the outcome.
All of these mean that the moment we pick up our phone, we are at risk of not putting it down for a long period of time, and that time comes directly from the “free time” we would otherwise have without it.
Managing Time Wisely
Scrolling can be so tempting, and so many of us do it. Not only do we scroll, we share the information we find with others. Sending Facebook Reels to loved ones is even considered a love language for some couples, as it shows the desire to share mutual interests and humor.
And yet, there is an argument to be made that this is a mistake. We have very little time in the day for ourselves, and the time we spend scrolling and experiencing digital overload is time that we could spend engaging in hobbies, spending time with our partners, getting extra rest, and so on.
If you’re finding that you’re overwhelmed by life and not managing your time wisely, therapy can help. Reach out to Flourish Psychology today to learn more.