How to multiply your time?

After reading this post, we’ll see:

👉 What is the infinite scroll

👉 Why it is so dangerous.

👉 How to break it.

TL; DR;

Infinite scroll - scrolling continuously without hitting an end. This is highly addictive. And affects mental health. There are ways to break this.

Do you pick you phone up for no reason? Unlock, open social media, start scrolling. Before you know it, 20 minutes are gone. You wonder why you picked up your phone.

I don't know about you. But my attention span had hit the floor. Along with it:

🔴 0 focus.

🔴 0 productivity.

🔴 0 concentration.

———

And you know the worst part? You are helpless. You want to break this vicious cycle. But it's not easy. Silicon valley has an army of engineers whose sole purpose is to keep your mind hooked. Like a drug addict.

You know how it feels:

❌ Feeling busy with no work done.

❌ Mind keeps racing all the time.

❌ You have 0 original thoughts.

The infinite scroll is one of the most destructive developments, ever.

What the heck is it?

In 2006, Aza Raskin was a UI designer at Mozilla labs. He was getting frustrated using google search. It was tedious to click through many pages to find information. He came up with an idea:

" What if you could scroll through search results, without having to click more buttons… ? "

The idea of the infinite scroll was created. Today, every social media company uses it. It was created to enhance user experience. But little did Aza know it's destructive effects over millions of people.

Studies have shown the ill effects of excessive social media usage. This happens because of the infinite scroll.

Why is it dangerous ?

• It exploits the unit bias.

  This is our tendency to complete a unit of an item or task. We want to complete the portion, no matter the size. E.g. in this study. Candy was given to people, telling them they could eat how much they wanted. The candy was given in different spoon sizes.

  The results? People who ate using the larger spoons consumed more candy. The same thing happens with infinite scroll.

• Dopamine hits.

  Dopamine is a Neurochemical. It gives us feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. It gets released when we expect a reward (and also when we experience the reward).

  When scrolling, we keep anticipating that the next photo / video etc. will be better.

• It works like a drug.

  Like cocaine, heroine and alcohol. Companies such as Meta, X, Instagram use methods used by the gambling industry to keep you hooked. It's like a slot machine - you keep playing, not knowing when you will hit the jackpot.

How to break it?

1. Social media blocking apps.

   I use undistracted. You can customize what you don’t want to see, for each social media site. e.g. when searching for something in YouTube, I don’t want to see the feed.

   You can also go millitant and block social media altogether. This app has helped me save 100’s of hours.

   And the best part? It’s free!

2. Set app limits ( in your phone).

   Both android and iOS have app limit timers built in. You can set up limits for each app. e.g. I don’t want to use WhatsApp for more than 5 minutes. I’ve used this a lot, and it’s awesome!

   It keeps you focussed, as you know you gotta respond within the time limits. And not spend time doomscrolling.

3. Turn your smartphone into a dumbphone

   This is one of the best things I did recently. And it reduced my screen time by 80 %.

   Here is a cool guide on how. You can thank me later 😀 

That’s it!!

I hope this concept helps you multiply your time . If you found this helpful, share with someone who will benefit.

Further reading:

• How the invention of infinite scrolling turned millions to addiction

P.S: Did you like this idea? Let me know. I personally respond to each mail.