Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to scroll better. There are some points in
Speaker 1: all of our lives when we are going to be
Speaker 1: spending mindless time on our phones. Figuring out how to
Speaker 1: upgrade that time just a little can make life feel
Speaker 1: more satisfying. So I know there is a lot of
Speaker 1: literature out there on how to break up with our
Speaker 1: phones or kick the phone habit. I know this literature
Speaker 1: contains a lot of good ideas we all should spend
Speaker 1: less time scrolling. But the truth is that there are
Speaker 1: some points in our ordinary daily existences when we are
Speaker 1: going to wind up wiling away time on our little devices.
Speaker 1: Maybe you are suddenly waiting in a line that you
Speaker 1: didn't foresee. Maybe you are watching a kid who is
Speaker 1: playing semi independently. You can't get up to get a
Speaker 1: book or magazine without changing the situation, So there you are.
Speaker 1: Phones make these little boring moments a little less boring.
Speaker 1: So rather than just lament our phone addictions, maybe it
Speaker 1: is possible to spend these little online moments a little
Speaker 1: more wisely. We can scroll better, even if we are scrolling.
Speaker 1: For instance, I have noticed that the comments on well
Speaker 1: moderated blogs or in any sort of closed community are
Speaker 1: often more wholesome than the comments on social media. The
Speaker 1: Patreon community for my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds
Speaker 1: will often have long and helpful discussions with eighty comments
Speaker 1: or more. Reading those can definitely fill some scrolling time.
Speaker 1: I also enjoy reading, say, the one hundred helpful comments
Speaker 1: that often follow a post by the Frugal Girl on
Speaker 1: her blog. So why not read some old school blogs
Speaker 1: or join some closed but active online communities and read
Speaker 1: through those comments. You just might learn something. I have
Speaker 1: also realized that social media algorithms can easily redirect me
Speaker 1: from what I was hoping to see. Online retailers, on
Speaker 1: the other hand, want to keep you focused, so I
Speaker 1: have been spending some scrolling time doing the equivalent of
Speaker 1: window shopping. For instance, I've been looking through galleries of
Speaker 1: miniatures at Factory direct Craft. Creating miniature rooms is a
Speaker 1: new hobby of mine, So scroll around and look at
Speaker 1: prices and styles on a dozen little mini dishwashers. Is
Speaker 1: it a great use of time? No, but it feels
Speaker 1: a little less icky than some of the name calling
Speaker 1: I see on Twitter. If you tend to check email
Speaker 1: while you are playing around with your phone, then you
Speaker 1: might try to make your inbox a little more engaging.
Speaker 1: For instance, you might subscribe to some interesting newsletters, and
Speaker 1: of course, if you like to scroll around, you can
Speaker 1: buy subscriptions to newspapers like the Wall Street Journal or
Speaker 1: the New York Times and read real articles rather than
Speaker 1: people's idle speculations on their Instagram pages. In any case,
Speaker 1: I'm sure we should all spend less time on our phones.
Speaker 1: I also recommend putting ebooks on your phone and spending
Speaker 1: some time that you would be scrolling reading books instead.
Speaker 1: But all that said, you are just going to scroll.
Speaker 1: There are still ways to make this a better experience,
Speaker 1: so best to avail ourselves of those in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our task. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows,