Jesus Mirabal

   I have wasted over 9,000 hours of my life on one of today’s most common addictions. Around September of 2025, the white noise that occasionally resided within my head grew to a deep smog that took a toll on my mind, and my physical state. From that point I began to realize I had been indulging in an algorithm that is ultimately purposeless in the lens of my life.

   My troubles began when I realized that I struggled to do much of anything. Thinking felt too hard, participating in my own hobbies was tiring, and there was a heavy weight that hindered my ability to simply exist within a given environment. This weight resided in a small rectangle, about 6 inches tall— this hindrance was my phone. I’d never seen or taken the time to imagine just how destructive doom scrolling could be.

   Doomscrolling is a term highly popularized in recent media, and refers to the addictive nature of scanning through the taverns of social media seeing content that is either upsetting or mind-numbing. It’s become a rare occurrence to hear someone doesn’t indulge in short form content, and I still find myself reaching for my phone just to fill 30 seconds of boredom (to no avail). 

   Last year, as the leaves changed color to reflect the fall season, I wanted to make a change within myself. At first, I tried to rely strictly on willpower, hoping that just a bit of consistency would reverse my dilemma. I learned very quickly that willpower is often a terrible way to attempt to find resolution. I constantly found myself still burning 15 to 25 minutes, and struggled to wrap my head around a solution. A touch of color returned to my landscape when I began to understand that the essence of doomscrolling has nothing to do with willpower, and instead basic human psychology. Doomscolling holds dopamine receptors hostile, with heavily oversaturated content designed to drag a user into the deep depression that the digital world thrives on. Needless to say, humans are simply not prepared to have such an overwhelming amount of content at the swipe of a finger. Before social media, dopamine was derived from productivity and accomplishing goals. When in a state of constant stimulation, it’s no wonder that exhaustion and depression in younger age ranges are rising with attention spans progressively getting shorter.

   The final step I took that allowed me to separate myself from scrolling was leaving the willpower within an app that bans scrolling. This took the pressure off me and allowed me to focus more on accruing new interests and strengthening my current ones. Beyond hobbies, boredom is a feeling I’ve become more acquainted with over the past year. I find that boredom often gives me time to reflect on topics that come to mind, or generate new ideas for things I aspire to do. In a larger scope, boredom has also served as a catalyst for inventions that are notorious, with potato chips and post it notes coming from bored minds. I doubt I’ll be creating the next big hit in marketing, but boredom opened the door for clarity to return to my life. As time continues to march forward, It’s a goal of mine to let the dullness of boredom coexist with the exhilarating thrills that come from living in a less stimulating world.