Are you hooked?
Read about my mischievous act (muahaha) and happy chemicals
Digitally Exhausted came to be because I wanted a place to share my thoughts on tech’s societal impact. My writing covers social media’s spaghetti-like complexities, Big Tech, and action steps to balance digital life.
Reading (or listening) to Digitally Exhausted, I hope you become inspired to design a digital life for you, not default or “opt-in” to one.
If you’re interested in these topics, and down to stick around, subscribe 😊
Sitting in a computer lab, typing on this computer that is not my own feels mischievous and foreign.
Mischievous, because I am sitting in a University computer lab where I do not go to school, but let’s keep this between you, me, and the fence post. Foreign, because this keyboard is slowing me down. Plus, I keep reaching for my absent trackpad.
As of today, it has been a week and a day without my laptop.
A big pro is that I have not watched Netflix, which is huge for me because I thoroughly enjoy a good true crime show or a psychological thriller (Lifetime movies were my jam back in the day). However, the cons have hit hard since the digital wellbeing coach certification course I am taking is picking up speed.
Reading research papers and articles and typing out emails on my phone has not been an enjoyable experience. But this is temporary. My computer should be fixed and back home to its natural habitat (my desk) by the end of next week.
Until then, I will use this computer lab until I am caught. (In case you missed the saga, Sh*t hit the fan with my MacBook Pro).
What I have learned so far in the course I am taking with Consciously Digital has been fascinating, yet frustrating. To learn more about how our brains work, it’s insane to picture the numerous meetings company executives and designers have had—and are having—sitting around a table discussing how they can trigger behaviors to make money while they drink sparkling water and eat gourmet sandwiches.
Our happy chemicals help us survive. They don’t deserve to be manipulated for profits. But here we are.
Remember when I questioned if our “lizard brain” is to blame? If not, I discussed our “child” and “adult” brains.
Our “lizard” or “child” brain is properly known as our limbic system, which controls our happy chemicals. A few are:
Dopamine: produces the feeling of finding what we seek.
Oxytocin: produces the feeling of creating safe social bonds.
Endorphins: mask pain, creating obliviousness to it.
Seratonin: produces the feeling of being respected by others.
The prefrontal cortex is considered the “adult” part of the brain. It helps us make long term goals (plan for the future), control attention, and many other things. It also looks for patterns in the present that match patterns created in our past.
The limbic system says “x” thing is good for you. Go for it! But sometimes our cortex will override our happy chemicals. Like when you want that chocolate chip cookie right before bed. Your cortex says, “No, wait until at least breakfast.” But your limbic system tries again. “It’ll taste so good, especially if it’s warmed up.”
Learning about the brain and our happy chemicals, I have more of an understanding of my own digital habits and why I do the things I do.
I used to be a short-form video feed scroller right before bed (I still do sometimes because I am still working on engraining a different habit). I realized that I did this a lot to “relax” before bed. To try to veg out.
Instead of vegging out, if I want to relax or be entertained before bed, I grab my book, not my phone because I know I will become a complete vegetable—I am almost finished with Liane Mortiarty’s book Truly Madly Guilty, a banger of a book! Also, I will save so much time.
(When I scroll, there is no stopping cue. Reading my book, the end of a chapter is a stopping cue. I get the opportunity to decide whether I want to keep reading or go to bed.)
Taking this course, I have a feeling my exhaustion with the social internet and big tech will grow because I am learning more about how it affects us.
For example, instead of designing an internet where we have choice, we are left with feelings of FOMO and get distracted with triggers (both internal and external). I knew about some of these things, but to learn even more is… exhausting.
As a digital wellbeing and tech writer—now, digital wellbeing coach in training—I am committed to getting my digital exhaustion out with my words (here on Digitally Exhausted).
What’s even crazier (sillier?) is now, when I go online, there are things I can’t unsee (i.e. Nir Eyal’s hooked model).
Until next time,
Wherever you are, be there.
Wherever you are, be there ✨
Learning from a master barista. At work this week, a master barista (he has a much bigger title but I will refer to him as a master barista) from a major coffee company showed us how to make the perfect espresso.
For anyone reading who has a fancy coffee machine, the perfect extraction time is between 20 to 30 seconds. We even had the chance to taste the difference. The color of the crema was even different. An oaky caramel hue instead of a light brown sugar.