This trick will help you scroll less & read more

Right then, rumour has it that it’s New Year’s resolutions time. They a strange old game, are resolutions. Were it not enough that we’re all skint from Christmas, chubby on Celebrations and party sausage rolls, and desperately seeking a payday that feels approximately six years away, we decide to give up the vices that bring some joy to the grey days too. Dry January, anyone?

While we’re calling BS on giving up a beer at the end of a long day, what we can get on board with is anything that gets us to stop scrolling for a bit. We bloody love the internet, it puts what is literally an entire world of information at our fingertips. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are our holy trinity of unproductivity. But Apple’s recent Screen Time feature is enough to shame the best of us into wanting to rein it in a bit.

There’s science behind our social media addiction and we’re going to tell you how to use that science to stop scrolling and start reading. Because nobody ever did worse from reading more.

First, the science bit.

Social media addiction is a bad habit, agreed? All bad habits begin with a trigger. That trigger leads to an action, which then leads to a reward. You ultimately build investment and that keeps you coming back. And we repeat the cycle, over and over again.

Let’s take Instagram, for example. You’re bored or distracted (the trigger), so you check Instagram (the action). Seeing what everyone has been upto or even getting likes and comments on your own posts is your reward, and the fact that those photos are updated regularly provides the investment you need to keep coming back for more. Who knew those little squares full of strangers could be quite so hypnotic, eh?

But what if you decided to do something to feed your mind every time that trigger hits instead? Here’s how.

First up, take away some of the friction that stops you opening a book instead of scrolling. Reading a book is something that takes hours of your time, right? And scrolling social media can fill a few minutes much better. But who says you have to read chapters at a time? You do you boo; give yourself permission to read tiny chunks at a time. A paragraph, a page, a chapter.

Now you’re ready to hijack your trigger. When you feel that urge to hit Insta creeping up on you like the deadline for your tax return, grab a book instead of reaching for your phone. Now replace your action and swap scrolling for reading. A paragraph, a page, a chapter, on the bus, in a taxi, on the sofa. And just like that you’re learning and investing in your future. And that’s a hell of a lot better than learning about a dog that went missing in Perth in 2013, thanks to your Auntie Carol’s last shared post on Facebook.

Hijack the bad habit and switch it for a good one. One that’ll grow your brain and your business a page at a time. Who doesn’t fancy a bit of that in 2020?

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