Is the "Lizard Brain" to blame?
Read to learn about the brain and the 5 second rule
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, internet culture, action steps to balance digital life, Big Tech, and anything my fingertips desire.
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For the past month, my digital life has revolved around notifications—I hate it!
I already get distracted somewhat easily (I’ve diagnosed myself with ADHD) so to have high-priority notifications that I "have” to respond to “right away” is exhausting.
(Welcome to my third post sharing what I learned during Consciously Digital’s 5 Day Attention Detox Challenge. If you missed last week’s Digitally Exhausted share on how long-lasting change actually happens, you can read or listen along here.)
My “Lizard Brain” is annoying
We have a “child” and “adult” brain. In other words, we have parts of the brain functioning as a stereotypical child and parts of the brain functioning as a stereotypical adult: the limbic system and prefrontal cortex.
The limbic system (which can be associated as more childlike and is also known as “The Lizard Brain”) controls pleasure, reward, fear, and arousal.
The prefrontal cortex (which supports us with things that are considered to be more adultlike qualities) helps us plan, make decisions, make long-term goals, and pay attention.
To get back to the plight of my current digital environment revolving heavily around high-priority notifications, it’s stressful because:
If I don’t jump on a notification from Daft (a popular rental and homebuyer site), I could miss my chance to find my new home—Ireland get your shite together with this housing crisis.
With this type of high-priority notification, I have to be “online all the time” so I can find a new place to call home. Of course, I don’t wake up in the middle of the night to pings and dings (a boundary I created during this process), but to stop whatever I’m doing to respond to these notifications goes against who I am and how I operate. But… at the end of the day, it is what it is. Also, it’s temporary.
To be “online all the time” is not how humans successfully function. We need a more balanced scale, not one teetering towards the other. (For any tech pessimists reading or listening to this post, we need technology to thrive and survive.)
(As I’m reading back over this, I want to clarify for those who are reading and not listening to this post, I do have a place to stay for the short-term, but I’m looking for the long-term.)
I don’t have my normal systems in place because of the necessity to find long-term housing, so my digital wellbeing has kind of been out of the window for the past few weeks.
My “childlike” (i.e. “Lizard Brain”) part of the brain gets so giddy when a Daft notification pops up on my phone.
I pounce with excitement at the opportunity of finding my potential new home. I’ll tap on the notification to see the place is either an hour's drive away or it looks like a flat-out scam—yes, people scam desperate people who are just trying to put a roof over their heads.
Should I blame my “Lizard Brain?” No, because my “adult” brain is always there to help out. It knows better than to settle for something unrealistic or scammy.
She knows patience and perseverance turn the key to unlock success.
How to stay grounded when you’re forced to be “online all the time” for high-priority notifications?
How many times have you used the five-second rule? Personally, I’ve used it way too many.
I know… Ew… It can be gross depending on the situation. But thank goodness we’re not talking about that 5-second rule. With this rule, you won’t get potential food poisoning.
In practice, let’s say you get an email or text or whatever notification. In your head, count 1… 2… 3… 4… 5… (realistically this will be more like a 1…2…3… TAP).
In those seconds, determine whether or not this is going to help you with what you’re doing in the moment and/or support your goals. If the notification is going to distract you with a quick reward or pleasure, consider whether this is what you need or actually want in the moment.
This doesn't work for everyone because we’re all different. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. And that’s okay.
The goal isn’t to be perfect. It’s to practice mindfulness.
(Pssssssst… Y’all, don’t forget to practice self-compassion.)
Wherever you are, be there ✨
I poured my first pint of Guinness! Y’all, one of my dreams came true when I was behind the bar pouring a pint of brown creamy goodness. It was a hilarious moment because I told the customer it was his lucky day, an American lass from South Carolina who had no bar experience was pouring his pint of Guinness—and the Irish are critical of their pints, as they should. The customer, my colleague, and I had a few laughs as I tilted the pint glass at a 45-degree angle for the brown goodness to make its way into the glass in anticipation of its brief rest. We patiently stared and waited for the pint to have its moment as we chatted about his career as a psychology professor—a fascinating fellow he was.
Content I’m consuming
📚 I’m reading some of the course material for the digital wellbeing educator course I’m taking.
📺 Star Trek: Voyager has been a classic that’s popped back up. I've also been enjoying Philip DeFranco to catch up on the news in a fun and digestible way.
🎙 I’ve been listening to my FuNkY and jukebox playlist a lot on Spotify.