Distractions
I thought something was wrong with me a while ago. Feeling pulled from many directions, I couldn't focus on anything for over 20 minutes. I used to get lost in creative work, a book, or a game. It crept up on me even though I stayed away from doom-scrolling apps. Eventually, everyone started enabling this, from Reddit to Hackernews, from YouTube to Instagram. And one by one, I quit almost all of them. I felt defeated because I thought I had gotten hooked. I quickly regained control of my attention span, knowing it would take a while to get back to how things were.
I had some reassurance when I met up with some of my childhood friends (I had to take a 10-hour flight to do so). We casually started talking about this, and I realized it was more widespread than I imagined. I felt better and worse at the same time. I felt better because this is affecting everyone. I felt bad because this is affecting EVERYONE.
It's not a mystery that there is a continuous battle to grab your attention, but as days go by, it's hard to take a step back and realize its effect on you. But I would like anyone reading this to understand that it's not all your fault. Things are designed SPECIFICALLY to keep you glued to your screen, to keep that attention trapped.
My humble recommendation is to rewrite those habits and remove the problem altogether. If you're scrolling through Instagram too much, delete the app. You can always access it via browser where needed. Make it more challenging for yourself to fall into that trap again. I started to either remove apps or block them altogether. Eventually, the doom-scrolling just wasn't something I was tempted to do. I read more, write more, and work out again.
Thoughts
Plenty of books go into detail about how this attention-grabbing society is ruining our minds. It takes a deliberate effort to avoid any trap, and if you get distracted, you get sucked into the bad habits very quickly. Please don't feel bad about it; things are designed to get you hooked. This is part of what's behind a previous thought about Resiliency and Forgiveness. Go minimal with your digital life, and you'll experience a level of freedom you haven't felt in a while.