Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Crest podcast. I'm Jisoo, I'm Crystal and I'm Balmeet.
Welcome Balmeet. Balmeet is a new voice on the podcast, and we wanted to bring him on to chat about unplugging and kind of also balancing your life with all this technology constantly around us.
I think it's more and more on our minds lately, thinking about how to be more productive, how to rot on the bed and couchless, and not get so sucked into social media and technology and all of that stuff.
So, we thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss, So I guess to start us off on a scale of one to 10, how chronically online do you think you are?
Yeah, that's a good question.
And I was thinking about this probably like a seven or eight, which I don't know if that's the number that you were expecting for say, but I was thinking about it.
What do I do where I don't necessarily go online like social media as an obvious one where you know, keep track of people's lives, we just kind of like doom scroll and rotting on the couch, media, like in terms of sports or politics or whatever.
You get most of that stuff online, or at least I do, games, shopping.
I do a lot of stuff online.
All of my hobbies, I kind of have an avenue online, so I'm into climbing.
I got in the chest like during Covid.
Those are some of the YouTubers I follow and like whenever they come up with a video.
Like I'll keep track of that.
There are a of things where I would say that I'm chronically online for, but maybe that's just how technology is today, where you kind of use technology to get what you need for your different interests or your different needs.
Yeah, that's a good point.
If you like as much as technology is supposed to be a tool for us, it can't just be a tool for us, but then my chronically online piece comes from always craving that screen time or wanting that screen time.
Sometimes times I've had experiences where I was at my computer for a long time, and I'm like, oh, damn, my eyes hurt.
Like, I'm a little tired.
I should go rest. And then I'll lay down on the couch and pull up my phone, you know?
So then in that sense, I feel like I'm probably like an eight or a nine.
My screen time is pretty high, so it's a tough addiction to beat.
Honestly, I'm probably similar to all of you floating around that upper end of seven to eight or eight or nine.
I spend a lot of screen time playing games watching TV.
After I watch TV, I have to like read about it, browse, read it, or like Twitter or whatever and see what everyone else is saying, especially if it's like a good show.
Sometimes the content that the viewers create is just as good as the show itself.
It's easy to get really sucked into all of that.
Sometimes I think about it too.
I'm like, what am I even doing online?
What am I reading? What am I wasting my time doing?
thing, and you can't even think of a topic.
It's just like substance list sometimes.
But that's just how it is.
Yeah, I would definitely agree with that.
I just finished watching Arcane.
And the first thing I did is just go on Reddit just to see what other people are saying about it.
Yeah, totally. I've been reading so much about Arcane on Reddit and Twitter and all that.
People love to post theories, analyses, make fanart, and make funny observations as well.
you go in thinking like, let me read a bit of what people are discussing and the next thing you know, it's like four hours have passed and you're like, what have I been doing?
I mean, it truly is a content loop because I watch a lot of reality TV, which in itself has its own world of like content that people make oftentimes all watch a show and I'll be like, holy shit.
Where's the tea? And then on TikTok or on Reddit or whatever, I'll consume a lot of like user generated content.
it. But sometimes it's the other way around too.
I'll see a couple clips floating around of like some show, and that's how it gets sucked into that franchise or that TV show and I'll start to watch it.
I feel like if you're intentionally going and being like I want to see what other users thought after they watched a TV show and looking that up, it's not as bad, but it's when there's a constant cycle of content pushing you to watch more things and that pushing you to watch more content.
That's when it feels a little bit, like okay should I be spending this much time looking this up?
And I wonder if part of it is I work from home back in the day, I say back in the day, people used to work in the office where you know you'd watch like a show like I remember when I was younger we would watch Lost with some of our family friends and then when they go to work they'd be like it's like the water cooler talk and you're like talking to your coworkers about it and that's just like a conversation to talk about but now we've kind of taken that away not saying everyone works from home but now you've kind of sped that process up, now you can go online and look it up to see what other people
are saying or you can talk about it with your friends on Discord or on Instagram, whatever right.
And it's easier to maybe find things that fit your specific niche or like your thoughts as well because sometimes you go to work and you talk about something.
You might not agree with that person so it might not feel super satisfying or get rid of that itch in your head but online you could flip through like 40 different forum posts and then find one, you're like, yes, I'm so happy someone else thinks this too.
So true, you like find your own little echo chamber in the corner of the internet.
Exactly. So it sounds like the three of us are maybe a little bit more online than the average person, but what are some signs for you guys that you need to unplug?
Yes, I think Crystal mentioned it before.
it's kind of just maybe some of the aimless use of being online.
So sometimes I'll just be on Reddit clicking on the home page and just looking for something to kind of like catch my attention.
It's like, am I really trying to look for a specific thing or, like, what's my purpose for being online?
And sometimes it's just I'm bored and I just want something to do.
Same thing with shows.
So if I'm going online, it's like, OK, if I know Arkane's just came out, then I can go watch that.
But I can also just go on Netflix and just scroll through like all the different things of, Okay, let me find something to watch just because I'm bored and I have nothing better to do.
In reality, maybe I do have something better to do.
But my brain maybe is just tied to trying to find something in technology.
So true. I feel like there's definitely been those muscle memory moments where like, I pull up my phone and my thumb just automatically leads me to like Reddit or like Instagram.
And I'm like, wait, I literally just opened this app.
Why am I opening it again?
Same. Yeah, so those are definitely more constant than I would like to admit these like, muscle memory app openings.
And sometimes it's almost muscle memory of bringing your phone out of your pocket in itself.
And then you're like, wait, why did I even need my phone again?
And then you like take it out again three seconds after you put it back into your pocket.
Okay, I feel like mine is a little bit.
it's a lot but usually i like a dual screen setup and if i'm sitting at my computer it means that i have my main monitor and i'm like doing something on it whether it's reading a forum or like playing a game or something and then on my side screen i'll have like a show or music or like something else going to stimulate me if i'm not on my screen i'll have my ipad running some sort of show and then i'll be like doing something on my phone Right.
But I will say there are times where I need so much like technological stimulation that I bring out like the triple screen setup, where maybe I'll have something on the TV, and then I'm doing something on my computer or my iPad, and then that's not enough.
So I'll like pull out my phone.
As soon as that happens, I'm like, okay, this is too much. Take a step back.
Wait, I have a question though.
When you do that, do you truly capture all three mediums, like you're able to fully capture all the content.
Once the third one comes out, it's like too much. Like the third one usually means I'm playing a game with my phone reading something on my computer and then watching something on the TV.
So then I'm doing everything poorly.
Everything's running at like 15 % efficiency, but the dual screen I feel like it's pretty good.
Maybe it's like 70 % consumption of each thing.
I see. That's fair.
I know, it's a lot, but I don't know maybe this need of wanting more – even more than the high stimulation that I'm already getting – I mean a lot of people call this brain rot or like a segment of brain rot I think, and I can also feel this on TikTok sometimes.
The running joke is that there's subway surfers on the bottom and then some sort of other clip that you're watching on top.
So yeah, I just feel like my attention span is getting more and more segmented down.
Yeah, I would agree, and I think attention span is a good thing to point out, it's cause I remember before, like, I could watch shows and get through kind of the the slower parts without any issue.
But sometimes now when I'm watching a show and there's a slow part, I'll just take out my phone and just like start, I don't know, go on Instagram or go on Reddit or something.
And I'm still paying attention to the show but then I just get distracted and then eventually it picks up and then I have to go back in the show to catch up.
But then it's like I need to catch myself in those moments and just be like this is part of the process I need to just focus on this show because there's also a lot of times where I'll have a show on in the background that I actually care about the plot I just miss it and I'm like, I have no clue what I just watched for 30 minutes I need to go back and watch it because I didn't actually take the time to pay attention to that I just I'm trying to overstimulate myself probably which Probably just an attention span problem I think it becomes more obvious for myself when I'm tired as well if I'm trying
to watch like a show or something I'm pretty exhausted and I pull out my phone suddenly to like Do other stuff?
I'll catch myself like oh, wait, what am I doing?
Now I don't know what is going on on either of these screens So then I have to like pause rewind put the phone away But then it's like such a habit that sometimes later into the show or whatever.
I'll pull my phone out again And I'm like, wait, I just went over this.
Like I can't be doing this right now.
It truly is muscle memory and I feel like a lot of it too is not just our bad habits as a consumer but I feel like we're also being trained this way to a certain extent.
Baumi, you mentioned Instagram and I feel this very often with Instagram where I'll open it to see if there's any unseen stories because I don't like seeing the ring around it and then I'll just like tap through everything really quick and I'm just like, why am I even doing this?
I feel like a monkey or something.
Wait, do you watch every single story on your feed?
If I'm not having like a super busy day, I'll out of habit, just like click through everything.
I'm not even like truly watching it.
Just trying to get that ring out there.
I do the same thing.
I don't know if I feel better or worse that I do the same thing now.
Oh my god, I used to do that back in the day when stories were still kind of new, and it felt like I could finish it.
but now it feels like it's never ending.
Don't people add new stories almost immediately after you finish.
Yeah, I mean, maybe my following list is like a little bit more manageable, where maybe the people I followed don't post as many stories.
But yeah, if I have time, I will try to get through the pile of stories.
That's the 100 % completionist in you!
Well, besides some signs that you need to unplug, are there any things that help you unplug in the moment?
Whether that means you're unplugging one thing to focus on another plugged in thing, but I wonder if you have any measures that help you stay, I guess, more focused on one thing at a time.
So probably like we talked about before, just kind of being conscious of why I'm trying to do what I'm doing.
If I just like go on reddit aimlessly maybe that just means I should go for a walk or go like work out a little bit or go get some food or something, right?
It gets some distraction because I've probably just been laying down and I'm just trying to find a distraction or it could be after work.
So if I just had a really long workday, a lot of meetings, I've just been working from like nine to five straight and my brain is kind of fried sometimes I'll just go on to my other monitor, which has my personal computer, and then I'll start trying to watch a show.
But then it's like, is that really what I need right now?
Or should I just kind of get a break and then go do something else, spend time with the family, get some food, etc?
I think for me, there's probably a couple of things that I do.
One, I have to transition out of a certain part of the Internet and then into like a more real life part of the Internet.
And what I mean by that is instead of watching reality TV or reading Reddit, I'll open up a vlog or something, and I'll slowly transition into more of the lifestyle part of YouTube, and YouTube is also a little bit more long -form than TikTok.
Sometimes I feel like it does help, but what really helps me honestly is getting some fresh air.
And I'm not someone who takes a lot of walks, so I'm either at home or I'm outside, you know, but even just stepping out into the backyard really quick and getting a huge whiff of fresh air I feel resets me a little bit.
I get less of a need to be chronically online.
I think one thing that helps me is actually the do not disturb functions on our phones.
I have it automatically set to go off at night, and I feel like that's a huge help because I don't know how we used to do it before.
I'm pretty sure every time my phone vibrated in the middle of the night in the past, it would wake me up.
there would be maybe like a 60 to 70 percent chance that it would wake me up.
So now that I have do not disturb automatically set, I can sleep through the night and not worry about notifications and I have it set to a little later in the morning too.
One because I wake up later but also because I think it protects my morning a bit better too.
When I wake up and I reduces my screen time a bit.
As I prepare for my day.
See, I feel like that wouldn't work on me because notifications aren't what makes me chronically online.
You know what I mean?
It's like I just habitually open TikTok.
I habitually open whatever phone game I'm playing at the moment, and then that's what takes up the majority of my screen time.
So I feel like I need to come up with a way to block my phone games.
I think there's apps for that like limit your screen time or something yeah yeah what is it parental control yourself but yeah I do think it helps in certain moments I think like if I go out and I watch a movie in theaters I'll put my phone on do not disturb it actually helps too for driving usually if you your phone connects by bluetooth automatically to your car it'll like automatically go into driving mode.
And I do think it helps with like reducing the urge to respond to a text or something while you're driving.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Safety first. I will also say too in the beginning of this episode we talked about how unplugging, or being online, can mean very different things depending on what you're doing on your screens.
So I'm curious if you guys feel like there are things you do on a screen that are way more productive and you wouldn't consider it as being chronically online and things you do that are really really unproductive.
Like you consider it basically rotting online.
So it probably just goes back to like having a purpose for things I work from home so I guess all of that is technically productive but maybe other things, so if there's like a new climbing video or something that I want to watch and then I want to get something out of it because they're like showing a technique or they've collaboration with an Olympian, and so I want to watch the Olympian climb because watching someone who's that good is just really cool and very inspiring, so I feel like that stuff is very good for me.
I'm okay with it at least. Social media is a hard one because it's hard to ever really say like social media is really benefiting me, whether it's like my mental health or like good use of my time, but there I guess there are still allowances for it that I give myself where I want to see what other people are doing or sometimes I will find a funny meme that I can send to my friends or again it's just tied to something that's my hobby or on Instagram I look up a lot of food stuff so it's like I want to make that or that would be really nice to make or get recipes from there.
So those could be a little bit more productive.
Watching shows I watch pretty much all my shows and some sort of online or streaming platform.
If I want to watch that content then that's kind of the only avenue that I have. So those ones I'd say are things that I'm okay with.
It's really just when it gets to the aimless searching for entertainment.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
Honestly, I'd probably agree with a lot of that.
My time online is not always unproductive.
Similar to what you said, Balmy, like having a purpose or like a goal makes spending your time and feel more valuable, I guess, or intentional.
Even if I'm playing games, I feel like I usually have a goal in mind.
Like, oh, I want to finish this or like improve in this.
And I think that makes it feel productive.
And this is kind of a silly one, but I play like all the New York Times games at night.
I feel like that is very productive.
That is like word exercises.
It's like an enrichment activity.
Yeah, exactly. I'm like, this is definitely productive and in no way wasting my time.
That is so interesting to me because I feel like playing games feels really, really unproductive for me.
Maybe it's the types of games that I choose to play or how I choose to play it.
I feel like social gaming and using games as a way to connect with friends is a more productive way.
but for me, I'm a big phone game person.
I like to play very solitary games like Stardew Valley or even stuff like TFT, I tend to play by myself and enjoy it more that way.
So sometimes, when I'm stuck in that loop of playing games for a while, I'm like, This is pretty bad.
This is not what I would consider productive consumption.
Dude, but when you're playing games like TFT, aren't you kind of setting a goal like, I need to improve so I can like reach a certain level.
But it's like, what is that goal achieving?
For me, I feel like there's no real life gain except for maybe like, I don't know kudos that you can get for being like, I'm gold or I'm whatever and TFT. So then it just feels like something that I'm chasing.
The opportunity cost of the stuff that I'm not doing outweighs the game that I'm about to get.
So that's how I feel like it's unproductive.
And maybe because also I'm not like a huge, this is the strategy that I'm going to try and see if this works.
I'm kind of like, okay, let's brute force like 40 games and see what that gets us kind of a person.
So in that sense too, it's also in productive, right?
Like, I'm not necessarily honing my skills to an extent.
I'm just kind of like brute forcing a bunch of different things that exist on the internet.
That's fair. It's like there's always something that people call unproductive.
So now it's gaming as gaming's become a lot more popular.
But before you could say like watching TV is just the original brain rot or just doing hobbies, right?
Your hobbies don't necessarily add value to your life in other people's perspectives.
But to you it's really important because something that brings you joy or it's something that keeps you healthy or it's just something that like takes your mind away from the stresses of the world.
So for me, that's kind of where gaming fits in.
it's just another kind of like art consumption.
It's like a multiplayer game.
Then it can be a way for me to like play with friends.
So like if Krystal says, hey, you guys want to play Valorant and then I join?
That's some time that I'm willing to spend because I don't talk to Krystal too much. But then we can like play a game hang out virtually.
Or if I'm playing a single player game, then it'll be something that I want to kind of experience whatever that art is that the creator created.
And I want to enjoy that.
So for me, it's similar to watching a movie or watching like a TV show.
Yeah and I feel like this just goes to show how personal and subjective these feelings are for sure.
I kind of am in the room where I consider online shopping very productive.
Where I'm like okay I'm doing research in order to get this product, because I'm doing it online, I have all these different options and all these different forms of research that I could do.
So to me it feels like a research project in a sense, but a lot of people could consider that at a big waste of time, right?
It's like, you're just spending money and then you're spending hours on top of spending money trying to find what you want.
So it truly is very personal experience, I think.
So is your thesis what you end up buying?
Yeah, my thesis is like the sneakers that I want for fall.
And then I'll spend hours researching on like, what's going to go out of style?
And by the time I choose to buy the sneakers, everything is already out of style, so it doesn't even really fucking matter.
But I can totally see how that feels and can be productive as well because it kind of all goes back to what Balmeet said where like you have a purpose, you're like, I'm literally doing research for deciding what to buy, there's intent, and you're gaining a lot of information.
I guess in a sense, it's like you said it's a research project, you're doing reading, gaining knowledge and all of that.
And, honestly, it's kind of a skill to have too, I think.
Internet literacy is a skill at the end of the day but I guess it's like how we choose to use it.
If what we're doing brings value to our lives in its own way or if we just end up on the couch scrolling TikTok.
Ok for me, scrolling TikTok is extremely unproductive but sometimes I just can't stop.
Well, okay...as a TikTok mega user or power user or whatever the phrase is, I have to say that there's so many different niches and sections in TikTok.
So sometimes when I'm on gift guide TikTok, of like things you should get your friends for, the holidays, I feel like that's kind of productive.
Yes, a lot of it is probably like hidden ads, but it's like I needed to do this research anyway.
So I'm like, okay, this is good to know.
and I'll bookmark it.
Or cooking talk, I feel like, is productive.
Or even restaurant recommendation talk.
So I feel like even within TikTok, there's Yelp TikTok and there's YouTube TikTok.
So depends on where your niche is.
That's true. I tend to pick up TikTok when I need a good laugh or have nothing else really going on.
But you're right, there are some times where I stumble upon a video and I'm like, Oh, this was actually very informational.
Save. I don't have tiktok.
It's just something that I've decided to never download.
But with that being said, Instagram and YouTube just kind of fills the void with Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts.
So I do the same thing.
And sometimes you just get sucked into the algorithm and it's like the algorithm wins.
Just keep going. But sometimes, yeah, you find the little wins in there.
Like something to send to - for me sometimes the win is if I send someone something.
It's like I found value in it because this was worth me sending versus I just looked through 50 reels and nothing was worth sending.
So it's like, did I get anything out of it?
Which even if I send someone something, did I really get anything out of it?
I don't know. But it's like the little wins, I guess.
Yeah, that's true. Some comments on TikTok that make me laugh.
They're just like, I have no one to talk about this with, it's because like, something is is just so niche or like specific they can only bond with the other fellow commenters.
They're like none of my friends would understand whenever I come across those.
I'm like, fuck. I'm like my people.
I have a question and it's maybe he's slightly veering away from the unplugged topic.
But do you ever feel like your social media algorithm?
So in this case, if it could be TikTok, or it could be like Instagram reels were kind of veering towards maybe an algorithm that you don't necessarily want to go down that route, and then you try and manipulate it to bring it back to what your interests are kind of what your purpose for your social media algorithm is.
Yeah, honestly, this is very brain rot of me.
But I think of my TikTok algorithm as like a child.
Oh my god. And I have to like, set it straight sometimes like veers a certain away.
And I'll do so by rewarding good content.
Like if it's a video that I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm glad this is on my algorithm.
I'll like, watch it through a, like read the comments or whatever.
And if it's a video that I know is going to be bad in the first like, three seconds of watching it, I'll like quickly skip it.
And then that seems to kind of help it.
Sometimes when I do that, I'm like, bro, this is like literally some lines of code.
Like I shouldn't be personalizing it and thinking of it as a child.
Why that's so funny.
That's why I was asking.
Sometimes it just veers in a direction where it's like, I don't want to go this route.
Or it's like, it doesn't serve my purpose anymore.
After coming back from Korea, like I was flooded with Korea content.
And some of it has stuck around.
So like, there's like some kpop stuff that would never showed up in my algorithm that now has like stuck around a little bit or like food recommendations in Korea, which is great, but I'm not going to Korea again.
a long time. So I don't need those.
I want to feed recommendations for like LA.
Right. Right. I think there's definitely been moments where I'm like, okay, what the hell is this for you page?
What's going on here?
Or like seeing the exact same stuff over and over gets like really tiring.
Like I always get ads for Collagen on my phone and I'm like, dude, I already take Collagen, I already bought Collagen, give me some new stuff.
But I guess what's kind of interesting is sometimes if I feel like the algorithm isn't serving my purpose anymore, i just like stop.
so there's definitely moments in time where i don't touch tiktok for i don't know weeks or so because i'm just like yeah whatever my for you page sucks right now anyways and i guess in my mind i'm thinking maybe it'll reset itself sort of because i actually don't ever like videos, i only like maybe watch them through and read comments, occasionally save stuff, even if I accidentally like a video, I always unlike it.
This is kind of an interesting question too because James and I are both TikTok users.
But we have very different algorithms. So I will say like James has a lot of tech product content on his TikTok, and then also like a lot of sports highlights.
And then for me, I have a lot of like humor stuff, and then bits and pieces of each of my hobbies like K -pop, reality TV, shopping, whatever.
but for the most part it's like funny content so when we do our tik -tok review at the end of the night we always use my phone because mine has all the funnies right but sometimes I will have consumed too much gift guide content or whatever or like shopping or like restaurant and that will supersede the funnies and then he'll be like whoo you're like what's wrong with your algorithm today and I feel like I'm getting like my test graded or something or like someone's reading my journal And I'm like, oh, like, sorry.
I don't know why it's like this.
Like, it should be more funny today.
Like, I'm so sorry.
Then later, I'm just like, wait.
Wait, you should, next time you should be like, wait, how about you pull out your TikTok algorithm then?
Well sometimes we do and then I'm like, I can't watch 20 NBA highlights videos in a row.
Yeah, you'd be like, uh, what's wrong with your algorithm today?
Wait, that's so funny.
You do a TikTok review at the end of the day.
Yeah. You know, actually, speaking of all this, going back to what Balmute said, finding something that is sendable to a friend is very satisfying.
And I was thinking about it as we've been talking about this all.
The more I think about it, the more true it is.
I think every time I bump into something, where I'm like, oh my God, someone could relate with me over this.
It's a huge win. I'm like, nice.
I'm normal. This is relateable content.
I also think that the process of finding something sendable is also very different per person and I realised this through the many years of me and James sending each other content, if I see something that's 1 % relevant to James, I'll send it to him.
And I'm like, haha, like this reminded me of you, but then I realised that he doesn't do that with me, like he kind of like curates it way more.
It's like, oh well jeez, you laugh at this.
And I feel like that's his criteria.
And I completely changed the way that I see content too.
I'm like maybe I shouldn't just be like, oh this reminded me of you in Sunday.
Like, maybe I should be like, this TikTok is perfectly created for you in Sunday instead, like have a higher like barrier of entry I guess.
Dude, I'm definitely on the towards James's thought process.
Whenever I share stuff, sometimes all share stuff with like Balmi and the other guys that we play games with, And it will be like very specific Valorant content or like something that we do together.
And then yeah, for you it's also similar like, will Jisoo laugh at this or like did we talk about this recently?
Like I also think it depends on who the person is because I'm also on that more curated side.
But like certain people, I might just be like, Oh, will they judge me for sending them this because it didn't hit like the bar of what a sendable like real is or I mean is.
So, there's also that.
It's just the acceptance of the person where they like judge me for sending them low -quality content.
Mmh. Also, I think it's fair to send someone like your significant other just like way more content because they probably are on a different level of understanding with you than just any other random friend.
So then sometimes when I'm thinking about, you know, specific friends to send stuff to, Like even though this can't have been a waste of their time, they can't just open it and feel like I don't get it.
But like, if I send something really random to my boyfriend and he's like, I don't get it, it's like fine, I can explain it to him.
Or I can be like, what the fuck, and then judge him for it in a judge free zone.
Yeah, that's very true.
Although I will say sometimes we'll have our TikTok review sessions.
You know, when you're scrolling TikTok by yourself, or at least for me, I feel like I'm more likely to watch a video that's longer.
So even if it's a five -minute video on TikTok, which typically only has one to two -minute long videos, I also watch it because I'm just by myself, right?
I feel like when you're watching as a pair, it's so strange to go from little snippet videos and then watch a full -on, five -minute video.
So sometimes we'll skip those even though we send it to each other and be like, okay, whoever didn't watch it, just watch it on your own time.
And when that happens, I'm like dude, this is such a strange experience.
You know, I feel like families and couples went from watching TV shows or like movies together.
And then now I just, my attention span is like, this is five minutes long.
Like I can't watch it right now.
Oh my God. Wow. It's like homework.
You're like, watch this on your own time.
Yeah. We'll come back to discuss from book club to ticktock club.
Yeah. So it seems that in our conversation of unplugging we've accidentally plugged ourselves in.
Just a little bit. What is like the hardest part of unplugging to bring us back?
So I actually feel like the hardest part of unplugging is really just missing that stimulation aspect, and if it's like a weekend where I have a lot of social plans I feel like I don't have an urge to like really be plugged it." Because I'm like, oh my god, that's so much fun.
I'm like chatting with all my friends, we might be out doing stuff or just enjoying some time together.
I don't even get the urge, but if it's a weekend where I'm like by myself for the entire weekend, don't have any social plans, I need all my screens.
I've been trying to kind of like, wean off it a little bit because my addiction is really bad, I would say.
I try to consume more of the lifestyle content that I was talking about.
So I'll put on a video someone journaling, and then I will also journal with them.
So it's like body doubling.
And to me, that's sort of protective.
But still, it's like a form of being plugged in.
So yeah, I don't know.
I think I just need 40 different audio streams going on in my head at once.
Yeah, I guess it's just finding something to fill the void.
If you're busy doing something, whether it's a hobby, or spending time with friends, or spending time with family, especially And especially just traveling or getting away, that's probably the easiest way to unplug.
But that's not exactly the cheapest way to unplug.
Yeah, I think it's just trying to fill the void.
And for me, if I'm at the climbing gym, then it's easy for me to just not even do anything on my phone for two to three hours.
If I'm alone, then it's a little bit harder because I need some time to rest. So I might just go on my phone to force myself to take the time to rest. But if I'm with friends, that time goes by very quickly.
and I don't sometimes I just don't even look at my phone for a few hours.
I think for me, there's also an aspect of FOMO, I guess, that you feel like you're missing out on content or updates within whatever community you follow or something.
There's like some really niche examples.
Sometimes there's TikTok drama and people are like posting about their slow updates.
But then if you are unplugged for a while, you can totally miss it.
then you're like, oh shit, like what happened?
I totally missed this whole saga.
I think another example could be like, if you didn't maybe watch a really popular TV show when it first came out, you miss out on that initial wave of extra content and like conversation.
And then you feel like you're playing catch -up, maybe you missed the initial excitement, so now it's like just you.
You don't get like that whole extra group, I guess, feeling or community feeling almost so I think those are some aspects that make it hard to unplug for me it's interesting because I think that part has gotten better because of technology because for the water cooler talk stuff if you you know didn't watch the episode from the the previous night then if you join in that conversation one you might not have anything to say but then two you might get spoilers versus me I was busy the weekend that arcane finished and so I ended up watching it think it was Monday, I had to purposely avoid all content
for Arkane so that I wouldn't get spoiled about the end of it.
But when I finished it, then I was able to go back and either follow up on like the comments and friend group to talk about it or just go on Reddit and then read the discussion.
But I'm also not a someone who's going to post on Reddit, I'm more of a lurker in that regard. That's actually a good point.
I do avoid social media when I'm behind on a show, especially if it's a huge thing.
You know, back in the day when it was like Game of Thrones, lately Arcane, I was like, I just can't open anything like Reddit or Twitter just in case I accidentally get spoiled on something because I know there's a lot of people I follow or my algorithm is tuned into this.
So I guess that's like something that helps you stay a little more unplugged?
Procrastinating. It's like you're unplugging so that you could plug in at maximum satisfaction rate later seriously it's just not a bad thing because then you're really making a good use out of whatever you want to spend your time on again you're not aimlessly searching for something or to your point you see just like getting that 50 % satisfaction hit you wanna you want to make sure you get the most out of it it's true yeah I will say I feel like it's hard for me to visualize what unplugging looks like in the modern day because it's really not just a phone thing.
It's like a computer thing too.
And now, I feel like most of us have work computers that are just like absolute necessities to even be employed essentially, I don't know like what does unplugging look like now a A weekend or, or like PTO.
Wait, actually, this is really funny because I just came back from a trip to China.
Everyone knows how China has a lot of Western sites blocked.
So I did feel like a little bit in China, I was like unplugged.
Like sometimes this content was just not reachable from where I was.
And so I was like missing out, but then at the same time, it forced me to be a little more in tune with like what was happening around me, hanging out with the family that I was there for, and exploring a little more versus just like sitting at home and being on my phone and being like 10 more minutes or something.
Which is interesting too because yeah, it's filling the void with things that in reality probably do matter a little bit more to yourself because you're just you really are making a choice of saying, Oh yeah, I want to spend time with family.
I want to be in the world around me instead of distracting myself with something on my phone or in with technology.
But I think times like that are also really important because then you can self -reflect on the stuff that you were missing out on.
Like, do they really bring you value in your life?
Like do you really value those?
Or when you go back, you might not have like that addiction to say, Oh, I need to do this.
It's like, do I really want to do this?
Is this something that I like value and want to keep in my plugged in life.
I have a question about unplugging.
Do you think doing something that's like audio only counts as unplugging?
Or do you think audio and visual counts for being plugged in?
I think if you were just listening to music or something, I wouldn't consider that being plugged in.
Yeah, the bar is probably different.
I've never thought about this.
It's music. I don't consider as being plugged in is just kind of a extension of your life like background music, I guess Podcasts too because I feel like my podcasts are very purposeful.
So listen to your crust sometimes always sorry, but Especially like if the topic like resonates with me or I know that I'll resonate with me and I'll really enjoy it I listen to like sports podcast But like very specific ones for personalities that I like and I'll listen to political podcast Like that's kind of the extent of my podcast listening.
And those are just sources of information where I choose to get the information from there versus other mediums. But for me, it's also like, I don't listen to podcasts when I drive.
And since I don't go to work as much anymore and my podcast usage is also reduced a lot, so I think the bar is definitely a little bit different there.
Maybe audio at home just doesn't stimulate me enough to like capture my attention.
I don't know, I guess I would consider podcasts as being plugged in.
Audio books too, a little bit, because it's not just like noise anymore.
I mean, not saying music is just noise, but I'm not like dissecting every word. So it feels less like content, but I feel like podcasts and audio books do feel like content to me.
And that's the hardest thing.
I feel like a big part of unplugging that's difficult for me is if I truly didn't have anything, but like let's say I didn't even have music running on in the background or something, that silence I feel like is a little bit hard for me to just like sit in.
Yeah that's just a little bit tough for unplugging.
That's fair. I think personally I'm actually very bad at multitasking.
Maybe that helps a bit because then it reduces the possibility of overloading myself with things.
But I still do end up maybe watching a show while also just mindlessly browsing my phone, but i think it does help sometimes when i'm like oh i should focus on this show because this is the kind of show where you have to pay a bit of attention to and then it's a little easier to like pull myself away from one of the extra screens to focus on like one main screen.
When do you guys feel like this kind of started in terms of the forced overstimulation?
So when I was in college, I had to have music on while I was studying or like a show on in the background, which sounds counterproductive, but I just needed something in the background for that.
And then even when I was working, at least in my previous role when I had a little bit more time with less meetings, then I would have a show on or some music on in the background all working.
And while my focus was work, it's just having something in the background.
And then now I don't have as much time.
So I can't really do that.
But when do you think that started for you guys and do you even remember I guess the time before that and how that felt just kind of being maybe it's okay with just being by yourself doing whatever you're doing?
So if I remember correctly I got my first personal laptop in elementary school so then I feel like that propelled me into being a full blown laptop kid which I almost feel like is worse than being an iPad kid to start next time because you could really only have so many apps on at once and I guess the iPad meta has changed now that you could do like the screen and screen thing picture a picture thing and have like a video streaming but having a laptop back then at a very early age kind of just made me very comfortable using technology so I think that's why I'm so like brain rot now but I will say
the second stage of my brain rot journey happened with TikTok in 2019, like I remember it so vividly.
Just how, like, shocking the short form content was and how digestible it was.
And it just, like, sucked me in and this was pre -Covid era, too, and I was like, oh my god, everyone needs to download it.
And back then, everyone was like, dude, why are you on fucking Musically, like, that atmosphere kid?
Little did they know.
Yeah, little do they know it will take over the world in just a short couple of years.
I think similar to Jisoo, when I was pretty young, I started to multitask on the internet.
And I think one of the biggest things was us having like AIM – chat messaging apps – then I would be maybe doing homework, but then the moment you hear like a little ping from the chat messaging app, you jump to it and you try to like respond and have conversation and I think that like started to look into everything a little bit Even if I was just doing something for fun, like maybe I was watching a show Maybe I was like watching a movie when someone chats you Immediately, your attention is drawn and you start multitasking, you know now that I'm really reflecting I'm also realizing that when I
watch YouTube, I read the comments a lot up.
So I actually also end up watching while simultaneously reading the comments.
Even if I'm watching YouTube on like my TV, I'll pull up the comments.
And then you know how it's like, kind of on the side, you know, do both.
So I'm like oh shit, actually I do definitely multitask a lot even if it's using just one screen.
So I think like these kinds of things helped feel the whole being glued to the screen kind of thing.
When I finally caved and downloaded TikTok, I was like, okay, I see now I can see why everyone's like so obsessed and I understand the like pull of the short form content and how easy it is to just scroll away your time.
So for sure all that I can feel my attention span dropping from it.
I do want to circle back on like unplugging specifically, we talk a lot about wanting to unplug or like times that we can unplug, but what do you think really are the benefits of unplugging for you personally?
I think one of the biggest benefits of unplugging is almost like forcing yourself to be productive in real life.
I think sometimes when I sit on the couch and rot, it's forcing me to procrastinate on real life responsibilities, whether that's just small errands, maybe like grocery shopping or cleaning the house or something of that sort.
So I think it does reduce that procrastination a bit.
And then it ultimately leads to a bit of a better organized day almost where maybe you are able to finish all your errands.
And then at the end of the day, you have free time and you're like, okay, I can guilt free plug in and you know, waste some time.
So I do think that's like a huge benefit just like helping you get your shit done earlier.
Yeah, I would agree cuz it's like a tier list of why I do the things that I do.
So the things that I really want to do like I'll get done that has a higher priority over the the brain rot activities.
If I don't want to do something, sometimes it's just easy to pull out my phone go on Instagram, start Doom scrolling on Reels or looking to see what's the latest posts on Reddit and the subreddit that I follow.
It's kind of putting my phone down or stepping away from the computer and actually going to do the things that I need to do, whether that's my actual work, or errands, or just things that I've procrastinated on.
So it's really just taking away the distractions.
The other thing would be, in kind of going back to the, what we were talking about, like signs that you need to unplug, because sometimes it's good to unplug even when you're not really having those negative effects.
But when you have those negative effects, where sometimes I'll just be online, and I just feel like shit, and I just keep going, and then it just kind of continues where it's kind of like taking yourself and like breaking away from that.
So I think there's also like a big mental health benefit of really doing things that are good for you again and not procrastinating.
Yeah, I think I agree with both of you.
For me personally, I feel like there's a big sense of derealization that happens if I sit online too long.
It kind of makes me live my life as a content consumer and not a real person.
So once I start to really feel that dualisation and I'm like, holy shit, I'm not a real person right now, unplugging helps me reset that and then I can consume the real world as content instead of digitally.
I think the other benefit too of unplugging is it helps to reset the pace of life again, especially when you're used to short -form content.
I feel like you're used to life being in that That sense too, stepping away from the screen for a little bit or maybe like logging out of TikTok for a little bit also helps to kind of reset back to where normal life pace is.
Mm hmm. That makes sense.
I think another one is just like it's good to remind yourself to unplug every now and then because you don't want to be like the iPad kit at the dinner table.
I think it's like easy to get sucked in and then not even realize you're scrolling your phone when you're having a dinner with friends and then miss out on that dinner essentially because you're somewhere else in the internet world so sometimes seeing that happen in real life is a good wake -up call or reminder like oh we had dinner with friends and like half of us were just on our phones and like did we really have dinner together yeah well despite all of our mild to extreme connection to the Internet.
Do you think you've been working towards achieving a healthier balance in your life?
with technology? I wanna say yes, just kind of realizing the things that I prioritized over the like as we've talked about the brain rot activities, I wanna make a better use of my time.
I guess I'm like training myself to be okay with those lulz and I think those are the hardest times.
It's like lull in conversation, I like a dinner table or lull during a TV show when I pull out my phone, getting rid of those things so I can really just kind of be present for whatever I'm trying to do.
The healthy balance of getting what I need to get done and not letting myself get distracted because sometimes it's okay to get distracted and just let loose and just de -stress but I think just not being consumed by it, that's where the healthy balance really comes into play.
Yeah, for sure. You don't necessarily have just like completely unplug and like cut it off cold turkey and like, never touch a phone or internet again.
I think it's like totally okay to allow yourself to have that time to like have brain rot.
But as long as it's not affecting the rest of your life to the point where it's negative and you're not being as productive or losing yourself into the the depths of the Internet.
So I think, yes, it's a constant battle, but it's something that's top of mind more often.
I do like how our phones tell us our screen times now.
So I actually pin that to my home screen so I can get a quick glance.
And it's kind of a friendly little reminder every time I look at my phone.
Yeah, I feel like this is gonna be one of those things that continues to be a work in progress for me.
I actually very much enjoy being chronically online and I don't necessarily think of it as like a personal pitfall yet.
But I do feel like there are opportunities to build out healthy habits during times where I don't necessarily need screen time, especially with bedtime hygiene and going to bed without my phone or waking up and getting ready without having something playing in the background.
Those are things that I do try to work on, fingers crossed there.
But I will say, I feel like there's going to be a long journey ahead of us just with how technology evolves, too.
So we'll all be in it together.
Well, thank you so much Balmeet for joining us.
It was a fun conversation even though maybe we revealed more of how plugged in we are versus unplugged.
But for our listeners If you have any thoughts about unplugging slash staying plugged in, feel free to share with us.
We have Instagram at Eat Your Crest Pod and we also have email, eatyourcrestpod at gmail .com.
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We upload new episodes every Wednesday morning.
Thanks for listening.
And don't forget to eat your crust.
