We spend our days building digital tools. Then we go home and scroll. There's something paradoxical about that.
We spend our days building the digital world. Then in the evening, we scroll.
There's something paradoxical about working in tech. We build tools to make people more efficient, more connected, more productive. Then we go home and do exactly what we're trying to optimize for others: we consume digital content without really knowing why.
And we're not alone. It's a conversation that comes up more and more, no matter the field.
The pressure to always be available
We live in an era where we've never had more tools to save time. Yet we feel more overwhelmed than ever. We've never had more tools to connect. Yet we've never felt so far apart from each other.
Back in the day, being unavailable was the norm. You'd hop on your bike, go for a ride, nobody knew where you were. That was fine. Today, not responding for two hours is almost an anomaly. We carry our phones everywhere, even when we don't need them, out of guilt. Out of reflex.
In the tech world, it's even more intense. We're often the first ones called when something breaks. The line between work and everything else is blurry. And quietly, that constant availability becomes an expectation, not just a habit.
What scrolling steals from us without us noticing
Nothing is as efficient in terms of dopamine-to-effort ratio as scrolling. It's fast, it's easy, it fills the void immediately. But it replaces something important: boredom.
Boredom isn't pleasant. But that's where good ideas come from. That's where the brain sorts things out, connecting dots it didn't have time to connect during the day.
When we systematically replace boredom with scrolling, we short-circuit that process. We stay efficient on the surface. But we lose something deeper.
Relearning how to sit with boredom
Disconnecting isn't just putting down your phone. It's relearning how to be comfortable in silence. Letting your brain chew on something without feeding it external stimulation.
It's uncomfortable at first. Really. Especially when you've spent years filling every quiet moment with your phone. But slowly, something shifts. The pleasure threshold comes back down. Simple things become interesting again. A walk, a conversation, an idea that surfaces out of nowhere.
For people who work in tech, it's almost a conscious act of resistance.
Because the environment constantly pushes in the other direction.
If this resonates with you, we talked about it for nearly an hour in episode 6 of Code 18. Honestly, it was one of the most human conversations we've had.
— ÈL
