Morning Musing on How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend
Hellur Luvlies! Long time no muse. I have been so distracted with life, that I haven’t sat down to have a free thought in ages. October’s reading list is up, and I am loving the titles I’ve picked for the month. As of now, I’ve finished 3 books – one of them being How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend by Rachel Barr and something has just clicked .
I’ve mentioned a few times that I worked as a senior UX researcher specializing in Design Thinking in a past life, so reading research studies and books about the brain’s response to technology fascinates me. We know that big tech companies are very aware of the harm that their products foster, and how they use the language of addiction (e.g. you – the User) when referencing their apps. In Barr’s book, there’s a chapter where she discusses what happens to the brain when we open these apps, refresh the content or mindless scroll through images.
Social media apps are like slot machines, mastered to harness dopamine driven anticipation to keep us locked in.1
The trouble is that unlike a slot machine, there isn’t potential for a reward… but we still ‘pull the lever’ for dopamine release. Girl WHAT?!? * BRAIN EXPLODES *. Somebody help us!
Oh. My. Gawd… we’re phucked. Not only are these apps changing our head positioning, neck placement and our jaw lines for their use, their rewiring our brains so we become anti-social junkies.
If we do get a ‘reward’ – like a response to a comment we made on a post – the notification alone sends our brain into a tizzy.
The trouble is the brain confuses notifications for social interactions. So although a brief encounter with a Reddit role doesn’t fulfill any of your social needs, the dopamine will still keep you coming back for more.2
Like, I actually cannot process how seriously bad this is.
I’ve had every notification turned off on all devices for years. Yes, it upsets the people that try to contact with their urgent nonsense, and I proudly carry the label of Luddite, knowing my green bubbled delayed response pisses them off. I didn’t realize how much I was saving my mind from descending into madness.
The Management books I’ve read emphasize blocking out time for your tasks, because multitasking doesn’t exist and they addressed the science behind distraction. Barr goes even deeper into that neuroscience as well.
FRICTION is the name of the game.
So Barr recommends putting more friction between us and the apps. On it!
I recently changed all of my app wellness timers to 15 mins limits on my phone, and 20 mins on desktop (for when I upload content). I’ve also made it very difficult to change the settings. I started was when I noticed a change in my app usage, when book discussions moved from the page to short form video. I hated how I felt about my day after using them, so now I really understand why.
Wow. Sometimes you need to have your gasts flabbered, if only to remind yourself that you do have free will.
…and that’s time. Still here? Share your thoughts down below… or not. You have options.
See you soon Luvlies!
xoxo Luv Laney Luv
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Morning Musing is a pomodoro-timed, free thought experiment to get back into the swing of things. No Ai added.
