Dr. Vijay Garg
The digital revolution has changed our lives. On the one hand, it has provided us with unlimited information and connectivity, but on the other, it has pushed us towards a new addiction: infinite scrolling It is a habit that is quietly eating our precious time and attention to develop productive skills. The effect of scrolling Scrolling refers to social media feeds, reels, shorts or any such digital content that never ends. Dopamine Loop: Social media platforms are designed in such a way that they make a small leak of dopamine (happiness associated chemicals) to our brain with each new post. This constant reward cycle forces us to constantly scroll and scroll, which becomes an addiction. Decreasing concentration: Our attention period is decreasing due to reels and short-form videos. Our brain starts expecting new and stimulating information constantly, making it difficult to focus on long, complex or slow activities, such as studying or learning a skill. Waste of time: The time that could have been spent learning a new language, practicing coding, completing a creative project or doing physical exercise is often spent scrolling without any productive result. Consistently seeing others” “perfect” lifestyle can increase feelings of comparison, low self-esteem, and anxiety, which is detrimental to mental health. Importance of skills Skills are the abilities that enable us to work in the real world, solve problems and become productive. Skills provide us permanent value in life, away from temporary happiness of digital world. Real world value: Skills such as programming, graphic design, writing, public speech, financial literacy or creative arts increase our job prospects and help us move forward in our careers. Problem solving: Skills give us deep thinking to face complex problems and find their solutions Help to develop. This ability cannot develop in a distracted mind. Self-Satisfaction: The self-satisfaction that comes from learning or mastering a skill is much deeper and more lasting than the momentary happiness that scrolling brings. How to move from scrolling to skill? It is a conscious effort to let go of the scrolling addiction and focus on skill development. Self-awareness: First of all, identify how much time you are spending in scrolling. Use the phone’s screen time feature. Create friction: Delete your most addictive apps or hide them in folders where they are difficult to find. Scheduled time: Set only a certain time in the day (for example, 15 minutes) for social media, and turn off notifications. Replacement: Change the habit of scrolling with a positive activity. Whenever you feel like picking up the phone, read a book for 5 minutes, learn a new skill, or call a friend. Intensive work): An integral time every day for your skill development ( Determine. Keep the phone on airplane mode during this time. conclusion The dichotomy between scrolling and skill is really a choice between momentary satisfaction and long -term value. Scrolling makes us feel busy, but skills enable us. To succeed in this digital age, we must consciously recover the time and energy that is being wasted on scrolling, and put it into developing skills that will make our lives meaningful and successful. |
