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It\u2019s like your hand has a mind of its own. One minute, your alarm is going off, the next, you\u2019ve opened Instagram or TikTok on your phone in a half-asleep haze.<\/p>\n
Finding your fingers automatically opening apps you have a love-hate relationship with is extremely common in our social media-obsessed world. And, if you\u2019re starting to think extended periods online are impacting your mental health, it\u2019s time to break the habit.<\/p>\n
But how can you, when the movement is so subconscious?<\/p>\n
Georgie Barrett, tech journalist and host of Channel 5\u2019s The Gadget Show, says the easiest way to reset this muscle memory is to create \u2018speed bumps\u2019 on your phone.<\/p>\n
\u2018You need to create speed bumps, I call them, for the way that you automatically flip open certain apps, or scroll on the news or scroll on your social media feeds, when you don\u2019t actually want to do it,\u2019 she says on this week\u2019s episode of Mentally Yours, Metro.co.uk\u2019s mental health podcast. <\/p>\n
\u2018You want to be doing it [scrolling] in a concentrated period of time, instead of throughout the day, as soon as you get bored, or as soon as you approach a task.\u2019<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CvpOJzcI60C\/<\/p>\n
The way you create speed bumps, she explains, is by very simply rearranging your home screen.<\/p>\n
\u2018Hide apps in certain folders and things like that,\u2019 she says. \u2018So when your finger is on autopilot, it doesn\u2019t just return to it straight away.\u2019<\/p>\n
Georgie admits she\u2019s not always had a positive relationship with tech and explains how the AI algorithms are designed to actually feed you content that\u2019s potentially the least helpful to your mental health.<\/p>\n
The algorithms \u2018are based on your habits, based on what you consume, and they sort of try and predict that and give you that before you go searching for it,\u2019 she explains. <\/p>\n
\u2018But the problem with that is that you end up with this echo chamber of probably the content that isn\u2019t always the most nutritious for your mental health [\u2026] because of the algorithms thinking that you like that because you\u2019re lingering on it, or you\u2019re commenting, or whatever it may be.\u2019<\/p>\n
She gives the example of seeing pregnancy-related content when she was trying to conceive. She probably spent more time lingering on it, but it doesn\u2019t mean it was helpful to her at that point in time. <\/p>\n
\u2018The people who are posting have no realisation that it\u2019s triggering you in some way and I think that\u2019s where it gets very confusing, because you are reading this lovely post about mums being mums or being pregnant, and it really comes from a good place. And you think, \u201cWell, of course, I\u2019m not going to unfollow this person,\u201d\u2018 she says. <\/p>\n
\u2018[But] I just had to unfollow it, I had to take time out from it.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Today, she uses the \u2018speed bump\u2019 hack, turns off notifications and resists the urge to look at her phone in restaurants if her husband has gone to the loo.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a work in progress, she says, but it is possible to utilise tech for better mental health and connection \u2013 instead of passively consuming it to your detriment. <\/p>\n
Want more tips? Listen to Georgie\u2019s full episode of Mentally Yours on Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) now. <\/p>\n