Trading Time or Buying Freedom

The biggest time waster of our time

Doom scrolling is a massive time and money waster.

You sit there, or perhaps lie down, thinking it’s time to relax. Your mind is somewhere else, and you don’t even know what’s happening around you. I get it; you’re with your best friend, the biggest time-wasting device of our time. Yes, my smartphone. Smart to look at, but after hours of doom scrolling, I don’t feel smart anymore.

Smartphones have dramatically improved our lives, but they’ve also dramatically drained our lives. In my mind, doom scrolling is the biggest time waster of this day and age. Yes, mostly, we can’t survive without smartphones. Or maybe we can survive, but only if we use our phones and do not allow our phones to use us.

The hidden side effects of smartphone addiction.

Without even noticing, your life drowns. By the time you realise it, you’re poor, broke, and depressed.

It feels like mist closing in on you from nowhere.

Not only are you wasting time on your keypad, but money too. After all, time is money. On top of that, you’re being bombarded with ads pushing you to desire more stuff, more purchases, and more goodies. This is our world. If you’re not intentional with your time, money, and energy, you will score a hat-trick own goal into your net.

Doom scrolling vs. productivity: A lesson from the gym.

The other day, I was at the gym working as hard as I could. I couldn’t help looking at the lady training next to me. She was sitting on a bike. Bikes are good for cardio, right? But she was definitely in another world. She was aimlessly scrolling through TikTok.

Please don’t judge her; we’ve all been guilty of that. Definitely not in the gym for me, but I’ve wasted an awful lot of time mindlessly swiping my finger on the electronic mirror.

Back to the gym story: I trained for 33 minutes on the bike, and the whole time, my training neighbour was paddling once or twice, then scrolling more. I couldn’t help thinking it would’ve been better for her to stay at home rather than trick herself into believing she was training her heart, when in fact she was frying her brain, and possibly her wallet too.

How to protect your mental well-being in the digital age.

This is the same reason I leave my cell phone in the locker when I’m training or going for a walk. I refuse to zombify my brain while I’m supposed to be doing something meant to improve my health and wellbeing.

Most things humans design to improve their lives almost always end up destroying our well-being if we’re not intentional. It’s okay to drink alcohol once in a while; who doesn’t need a pleasant drink? But you can’t drink more alcohol than water. The same applies to cars, sugar, TV, and even exercising.

Why do we overdo things? Moderation is the magic word you should master if you desire an intentional life, one lived on purpose and with meaning.

The evolution of social media habits: from searching to scrolling.

I wish I had all the answers, only observations; I guess. Be alert. Don’t just do things for the sake of it. Be intentional.

Google used to be the place where we wasted time. Then came social media, and now it’s only gotten worse. We can no longer hold actual conversations and instead speak to a chatbot in the form of AI.

From landlines to pocket cinemas: The evolution of our digital habits.

Doom scrolling makes you question the positive impact of modern technology, particularly smartphones. Sometimes I miss the old telephone, the one that was impossible to put in your pocket. Only a select few had landlines back then. For sure, our lives have improved because of these powerful computers in our pockets, even though most of these bricks don’t fit in pockets anymore. They have moved from portability to accommodate bigger screens to allow comfortable scrolling and better viewing. Imagine walking around with your own cinema. That’s you and me, my friend.

You remember the days when cell phones were only for calling and texting? I’m sure doomscrolling didn’t exist in the Collins Dictionary back then. No need to wish for the old days, though. Technology will always move forward. How we use our smartphones today can either improve our mental well-being and finances or hinder both.

Why smartphones should come with a health and wealth warning.

I think cell phones should be sold with a warning sign, like cigarettes. That might not help either. We grew up hearing about the dangers of smoking, yet many of us still held cigarettes anyway, and some substances stronger than just cigarettes. The problem with most harmful behaviours is that they not only affect our health but also our wallets too; we pay high fees to destroy both our health and wealth.

Who even pays with cash these days? We mostly use our cell phones.

That’s why when I misplace my phone, it feels like I’ve lost a kidney or a heart. These devices have developed from simple communication tools to almost being part of who we are. Our bank is on our phones. Our work, emails, and of course our so-called social lives live there too.

Reclaiming your creativity from social media consumption.

We can barely concentrate with or without our cell phones. These machines have turned us into information consumers, and creativity has gone out the window.

Therefore, I advocate for intentional living. We need to pause and ask ourselves hard questions. Why do we do what we do? That question matters more to me than what we do.

Is your iPhone worth It? The opportunity cost of luxury smartphones.

We’ll never go back to past life patterns, but we can learn to adapt to technology and use these tools intentionally. Smartphones cost a lot of money, and if we’re intentional, we can’t allow ourselves to spend a fortune on a screen that enslaves us.

At the time of writing, I researched the latest iPhone price. It ranges from about R20,000 to R30,000. Basically, you’re carrying a phone worth more than your bank balance. No wonder a thief demands your phone over your wallet.

Whether that’s smart, judge for yourself.

How to practice intentional living and break the scroll cycle.

What I can tell you is that I don’t have R30,000 to buy a smartphone to watch cute kittens on TikTok. That’s just my thinking. You’re entitled to your own thoughts, my friend. After all, it’s your money and your life energy we’re talking about.

Do yourself a favour and ask yourself: why do you do what you do? At what cost? Are you wasting your time, money, and health on a screen?

No shame, just reflection. A minor act, like putting your phone away when taking a walk or simply turning the device off while doing something meaningful, goes a long way.

Be intentional with your money and your health, because those matter more than the latest smartphone. Rather buy your freedom to live your life to the full.