The design of social media platforms is impressive. I keep scrolling for hours on end. Sometimes what I see is interesting, but it’s mostly just to waste time or entertain me. I know I have other stuff to do too, but I can’t seem to get away. I feel like I’m stuck in a state of constant scrolling. It’s such a common issue that it can be hard to break the cycle. There is a reason for this. What is happening is that social media has activated a flow state. Defined by HeadSpace, a flow state is considered:

“When you’re giving your fullest attention to an activity or task that you are incredibly passionate about, singularly focused on, and are immersed in…”

These flow states are essential for understanding how we concentrate on a subject. If we know our flow states, we can find better ways of using our attention, and manage to better overcome the constant state of scrolling.

How Do Our Flow States Work?

Since flow states are vital for concentrating on a subject, learning how they work is extremely important. David Robson has great insight into how our flow states work in his article The flow state: the science of the elusive creative mindset that can improve your life. He explains that in these flow states, we find the perfect balance between how we handle a task and its difficulty. If it’s too easy, our mind wanders and we ultimately get distracted. If it’s too hard, we get overly stressed. Because of this finding, learning to have a middle ground and understand what you can handle is essential to a good flow state. He also recommended taking small steps if the subject is too hard or easy, saying that if you start to compare yourself to other people, you will limit your concentration. Whether you make great or little progress, you should celebrate how much you have accomplished. As a student in graphic design, comparing myself to others happens a lot, but I can stay in my flow state because I know that I am making progress; even if it’s just one step at a time. 

We Must Break The Scrolling State

No matter how deeply invested we are in a subject, our flow states can be broken by a lack of interest. As a result, our two biggest reasons for scrolling are distractions and boredom. Since social media has the advantage of being short, we don’t mind constantly scrolling through content for long periods. And this becomes a problem. The longer we stay stuck in scrolling, the less we get done and the longer it takes to break out of our scrolling addictions. So how do we handle our distractions and boredom?

Firstly, distractions. In the article I had forgotten how to read by Michael Harris, the author had a similar problem where he had trouble reading books for a long period. He learned that this was due to the differences in how we read social media vs books. The way we scroll through media is so disjointed and goal-oriented, that you simply can’t read media like how you’d read a book. So to keep himself in a successful flow state, he began reflecting on what he read and thinking more critically about what he was doing. By doing this, he became more invested in what he was reading, allowing himself to stay in the flow state without getting distracted.

Secondly, boredom. It’s easy to get bored, especially in subjects we don’t like. We can get bored while scrolling and just not stop until we find something interesting. So an author named Madeline Holcombe decided to interview researchers about boredom scrolling in her article The boredom scroll on socials may be making your problem worse. It follows a group of researchers who studied how to see if people skipping ads and outside content on TV would make them less bored. It didn’t, instead finding that despite trying to save time, they were more bored and miserable. This in turn made their overall experience negative. So to keep people in a better flow state, they recommended that people should look for something intentionally rather than because they are bored. Now, our focus is already looking for what we are looking for right away the moment we start looking. As a result, we are more aware of what we are looking for and can avoid anything we don’t want to see.

Be Careful If You’re Stuck In A Scroll 

Sometimes we can’t help being distracted, and just decide to scroll and look anyway. It happens whether we are bored, distracted, or just need a break. If we decide to scroll we have to be careful about the genuine consequences scrolling on social media has on us.  As stated before, social media platforms can create our flow states. When we spend hours and hours on social media without a break, there are going to be things you have to look for when scrolling.

How our health is being affected

Social media is dangerous when it comes to our mental health. The way that we consume media on the regular has lasting impacts on us. In a study known as The Association between Attention Impairments and the Internet and Social Media Usage among Adolescents and Young Adults with Potential Consequences: A Review of Literature, they state the following:

“The concerning use of the Internet and social media could excessively interfere with daily activities, potentially harming adolescents’ mental health and quality of life. Those with high use of the internet may display less physical activities, academic engagements, and interpersonal relationships with peers and family”

If we are not aware of how we handle our social media it can be dangerous to our mental health, our academic lives, and our social lives as we know it. Be aware and regulate how much media we take in daily. 

How much do we consume when our minds are wandering

We tend to forget just how long we spend on social media. It can be anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. When we are looking we must be cautious of this. In my previous article, I mentioned a book called Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari. In Chapter 5, he explains that humanity is currently having an issue with mind wandering. With social media, there is just so much that we can’t even focus on a single thing. As a result, our quality of thinking is decreasing. We have to be mindful to not be distracted by everything, otherwise, we will get overwhelmed, causing all sorts of problems. Take a couple of minutes to relax with what you are doing, it can go a long way.

Conclusion 

Learning to understand how our flow states help improve our attention and keep pointless scrolling away is so important. I have been having trouble keeping a good flow state on everything from assignments to relaxing. My attention kept getting distracted but after doing all this research, I have learned what affects me, and how to keep away from these scrolling states. I have continued to keep improving my attention on assignments and work as time goes on, and bettering my focus. Thank you for reading!!