1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: tip is that old photos can make for good scrolling. 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: If you are looking for something to do when you 5 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: don't have much energy, a little reminiscing can feel more 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: fun than checking social media. So a few weeks ago, 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: my iPhone XS, which I believe I purchased at the 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: end of twenty eighteen or the beginning of twenty nineteen, 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: finally gave up the ghost. When I went to buy 10 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: a new one and transfer my data, I realized I 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: had somehow turned the backups off. This made the process 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: of pulling my information off the old phone rather tedious 13 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: and incomplete. The good news is my photos and contacts 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: made it. My apps did not. I decided to conduct 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: a natural experiment to see what would happen when I 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: didn't put any of the usual social media apps back 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: on my phone. I am not committed to abstinence, and 18 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: they may be back on by the time you hear this, 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: but I thought I would try it for a few weeks. 20 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: How would my time change? The answer is that I 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: still spend a lot of time on my phone. The 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: truth is that we all have low energy time when 23 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: it is hard to do much else. I have read 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: a few books on the Kindle app, which I did reload, 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: and I have been more responsive on email. I've read 26 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: a lot of The New York Times, but I sometimes 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: don't even want to read anything. So what then, Well, 28 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: it turns out that old photos make for good scrolling. 29 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: I have been fairly impressed with Apple's photo features, where 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: they pull together shot of you and a certain other 31 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: person over the years, or show highlights from a trip 32 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: to Disney in twenty sixteen or whatever. It's like a 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: slide show that I actually care about. But I often 34 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: then use that as a jumping off point. Let me 35 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: search for photos from Upstate New York and Fall of 36 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Let me look at photos from that 37 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: visit to the orchid show at Longwood Gardens in February 38 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: of twenty seventeen. This can fill a few minutes, which 39 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: is basically what social media scrolling does and requires very 40 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: little energy. But unlike Instagram, where I am looking at 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: someone else's carefully curated life, this is my own curated life. Hey, 42 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: look how cute my kids were in twenty seventeen, or wow, 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: remember when we used to carry the kids in that backpack? 44 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: Or oh, that's the time I made that gigantic sand castle. 45 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: My little experiment has reminded me that boredom is a 46 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: powerful force. We will seek out something that can fill it. 47 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: What that thing is will vary based on what is available. Obviously, 48 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: thirty years ago, no one had smartphones or social media, 49 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: so we filled the time with something else. I do 50 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: remember reading a lot of early Internet forum posts back 51 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: in the day before that, I probably reread a lot 52 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: of magazines or something. But if you have ever enjoyably 53 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: spent an odd fifteen minutes looking through a random photo album, 54 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: then you will know that it has a lot in 55 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: common with scrolling. But no one's trying to sell you something, 56 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: convince you that the world is falling apart, or make 57 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,119 Speaker 1: you feel bad that you are not making your own 58 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: blueberry jam. Old photos make for good scrolling, so they 59 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: might be worth substituting for a little scrolling time in 60 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 61 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time by thanks for 62 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: listening to before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. 63 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 64 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 65 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 66 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.