Page 5 - Attention Hijacked: Using Mindfulness to Reclaim Your Brain from Tech

What makes this moment notable, even though this yucky
feeling had happened a bajillion times while looking at Insta, was
a recognition of how that image impacted me. If I think about my
technology consumption like a diet, what I just ate left me feeling
bloated and heavy—perhaps the equivalent of eating an entire bag
of Cheetos. In the past, I might have scrolled on for thirty minutes,
continuing with my day and feeling some unnamed uneasiness,
but not really noticing or connecting my feelings to anything in
particular. This time, though, it was clear as day. This time helped me
wake up and ask myself, “Is scrolling through social media healthy for
me?” The answer was a resounding no.
So then I deleted all the apps and never got on social media again.
Yeah, right.
What is true is that this was the beginning of a long process of
really waking up to how my technology use was impacting me. I was
able to start noticing when my face felt hot and my muscles clenched
because an email triggered me before shooting off a fiery response.
I could acknowledge the way my mind felt deadened and my body
stiff after allowing Netflix to autoplay the next episode . . . for the
eighth time. I recognized that if I woke up and looked at the news on
my phone first thing in the morning, I was extra grouchy toward my
family as I got ready to teach school that day.
On the flip side, my awareness of some of the ways tech really
served me grew as well. I was able to notice that I felt empowered by
calls to action posted by friends who were promoting social justice.
I was grateful for the electronic calendar that reminded me of a
forgotten appointment I was supposed to go to in thirty minutes.
I appreciated being able to go to a new city and use social media to
easily connect with friends who I hadn’t seen in years. I felt giddy and
joyful from watching some of my favorite stand-up comics perform
in cities across the country from the comfort of my living room. And
especially as we braved the COVID-19 pandemic, I deeply appreciated
being able to connect with my students, family, and friends over Zoom.

Introduction 7