5 tips for breaking the scrolling habit

With almost ten years on Facebook under my belt, and over 6 years on pinterest, I think it's safe to say that I've got the scrolling habit. I've noticed that it's been especially bad the last few months as Steve has moved to night shift, and those long evening hours before bedtime have seen me sitting in front of the computer far longer than I should. It's no wonder that Douglas is developing the same bad habits [although he watches videos more than he mindlessly scrolls.]

So when something has become a mindless habit, how do you break that habit? Well, there's some sound advice in all those articles that you can find on Google. But what really works for actual people?

Tip 1 - don't turn it on I know, easier said than done. I kick myself every Tuesday and Thursday for sitting down at the computer and opening Facebook. Because it isn't hard to access, so it's easy to start. Actually turning the computer off has really helped reduce the scrolling for me. But I'll be honest, so far I've only managed to turn it off on Saturday afternoons, and not turn it on again until Monday morning. But that doesn't take away the temptation of phone or iPad. I'm still working on those.

Tip 2 - turn off notification. I didn't realise until recently that I had been doing this without realising it. About 6 months ago my iPad crashed, and when I reset it, I unknowingly turned off all notifications. So when I picked up my iPad and there was nothing on the screen, I was putting it back down again, instead of opening it. I've now turned off most notifications on my phone, and I'm expecting the same result. [The only notifications I've kept are phone, message, FaceTime and messenger. because, you know, it's a phone, sometimes Steve calls me. And I chat to my mum via messenger sometimes.]

Tip 3 - log out of everything Before Steve and I met, I didn't have the internet at home, so I went to uni and used the computers there. Which meant that I had to log into everything while I was at the computer, then log out when I was done. So it was a real novelty when we met to have a computer that saved all the passwords and I didn't have to remember them any more. Now our gadgets remember everything as well. For me, logging out would be a last resort, but it is worth considering if turning off isn't enough for you.

Tip 4 - have a research list. I find my biggest time waster is having an idea, and needing to research right.now. So a couple of weeks ago I started writing down those ideas as they struck, with a note to get to them at the end of the day. I haven't gone back and looked at the list to research yet, because the idea wasn't as burning as it felt at the time, and I've managed to stay on track with the task at hand, instead of getting lost down the rabbit hole.

Tip 5 - do something else This has become a bit of a mantra in our house during the school holidays, but it's probably the biggest lesson I can learn, and also teach the kids. When all else fails, read a book, bake a cake, go for a walk, put a load of washing on. Just walk away and do something that isn't in front of a screen.  

Do you have a scrolling habit?
What's your best tip for breaking it?

PS I opened my emails while waiting for Canva to load, and spotted this awesomely helpful post from Sarah at Yes and Yes.