Do you find yourself browsing social media looking at bad news, even while on your work from home job?
There’s a new strain of Covid out there. Armed conflict seems to be everywhere.
Worse still, critics are putting Taylor Swift on blast for her carbon footprint – despite her claims she offsets it.
It’s as if bad news is the only kind of news lately, right?
Or is it?
That’s what doomscrolling would have you think.
Doomscrolling is mindlessly scrolling through negative content on social media posts, news articles, or other content-sharing platforms.
Aside from being a common distraction in remote work, doomscrolling can adversely affect your mental health and increase your risk of burnout.
What are these adverse effects? More importantly, how do you stop doomscrolling to improve your digital well-being and focus on remote work? Read on and find out.
Decreased Productivity
The most apparent effect doomscrolling has on your remote work output is a marked decrease in productivity.
Instead of focusing on your online job, you might instead constantly take breaks to doomscroll on your computer/laptop or smartphone.
Sure, these breaks don’t take long, per se. Yet they can add up to consume a significant portion of your shift.
Aside from this, doomscrolling also diverts your focus from your work, further impairing how you do your job.
Increased Stress and Anxiety
What you read and who you listen to influences how you view the world.
Surrounding yourself with negativity will only make you feel anxious and stressed over events you have little to no control over.
This constant flow of negative emotions hampers your ability to concentrate and make well-informed decisions in your online job.
Less Motivation to Work
Constant exposure to bad news also has a detrimental effect on your motivation to work.
This neverending stream of disheartening news can overwhelm us and sap our will to do anything.
After all, if the world is always doomed, why bother working hard? This often leads to procrastination and poor work quality.
Impaired Creativity
According to studies, too much anxious thoughts lead to cognitive rigidity, where you struggle to think flexibly and consider alternative perspectives.
Besides this, doomscrolling can further impair your problem-solving skills by limiting the information you receive in an echo chamber, furthering your cognitive biases.
Why Do People Still Doomscroll?
If doomscrolling is harmful to our mental health and productivity, why do we still do it?
One main reason people doomscroll is because it helps us gain some semblance of control. If we know more about an upcoming problem, we can better prepare ourselves for it.
Another reason is that we seek support and validation from others regarding our concerns.
Besides this, doomscrolling is a modern variant of rumination. This involves repeatedly thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences- even if they’re just in your head.
How to Stop Doomscrolling
Now that you know about doomscrolling’s effects on your mind and remote work productivity, here are some tips to overcome it:
Set a Time Limit on Your Scrolling
It can be challenging to stop doomscrolling altogether.
Thus, start small by setting a time limit on how long you browse social media – and stick with it.
Instead of browsing your phone for twenty minutes during your shift, reduce it to just five to ten minutes.
Doing so helps you regain your time and focus at work while limiting your exposure to alarming or depressing news.
Avoid Sensationalist Media and Content Creators
As the saying goes: “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Many sensationalist news sites and content creators know that violent and shocking news generates the most clicks and views. Thus, most of their content would be about these topics, with a dash of omissions here and there.
If you encounter an article with a clickbait title, doesn’t offer credible sources, or peddles dubious or inaccurate information, it’s not worth your time or brain cells.
Practice Self-Care
Instead of doomscrolling, why not try activities that boost your spirits instead? These include meditation, pursuing hobbies, exercising, and practicing self-reflection.
Speak With Your Loved Ones
Instead of keeping your anxieties to yourself and doomscrolling, why not talk about it with your loved ones?
Having a meaningful conversation with your loved ones enables them to provide you with emotional support and a healthy distraction from your worries.
Breaking News!
With numerous troubling events happening lately, it’s understandable to be anxious about your future. For some, they cope with this by doomscrolling.
However, this does more harm than good, both to your mind and work from home job.
Fortunately, by following the tips above, you can stop doomscrolling and improve your mental health and work from home productivity.
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