Noticed a huge difference in my lunch break after ditching my phone

Used to scroll through feeds for 30 minutes. Felt drained and distracted after. Switched to just staring out the window for a week. My afternoon focus improved way more than I expected. Anyone else try this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brian22d ago

My buddy @wadem89 actually put me onto this exact thing after I complained about feeling fried from Instagram during lunch. He told me to try a specific subway station bench near his office that faces a little courtyard with trees instead of a parking lot. First two days I kept grabbing for my phone out of habit, but by day three I started noticing the way the light hit the leaves and how many pigeons were actually out there fighting over a stale bagel. You get bored at first, but that boredom is exactly what your brain needs to stop bouncing around like a pinball machine. Now I bring a paperback sometimes, but I still do at least ten minutes of just looking at nothing before I crack it open.

mitchell.lee25d ago

Wait, you're really saying the phone was the problem and not just how you used it? Because scrolling through feeds is literally designed to drain your brain, no argument there. But staring at a window sounds boring as hell, and most people don't have a view worth looking at for 30 minutes. I tried the whole "digital detox" thing for a week and just ended up daydreaming about work or getting anxious about stuff I should be doing. Honestly, keeping my phone out but switching to a podcast or a quick game actually helped me reset better than zoning out at a brick wall.

wadem8924d ago

And yeah @mitchell.lee, I've had pretty much the same experience honestly. That whole "stare at the wall to reset" thing never clicked for me either, just wound up ruminating on deadlines or whatever else was stressing me out. Swapping doomscrolling for a podcast or a puzzle game felt way more doable and actually gave my brain a break without the anxiety spiral.