Since Thursday, 24 February 2022, I’ve been doom scrolling nearly every day. Yes, I am one of those people who wake up and before doing anything else, I check if president Zelenskyy is still alive and what the latest atrocities in Ukraine are. I do the same before going to bed and have lost countless hours of sleep that way.
What should I have done instead?
I could have signed up as a virtual volunteer in aid of Ukraine, I could have done volunteering in my local area, I could have tidied my flat. As Beverley Knight sang “Shoulda Woulda Coulda means I’m out of time”. I can’t change the past and rather than continuing with doom scrolling or hoping I had done differently, I better set my eyes on more productive behaviours in the future.
The first change I’ll make is to use a different alarm clock. Yes, I will banish my mobile phone which used to be my alarm clock and go back to using an old fashioned one. That alone should give me back half hour every day in the morning.
Further, I’ll limit my news reading to 10 minutes each right after breakfast, lunch and stopping work for the day. This should keep me up to date without taking up too much of my time.
With this new found time, I’ll focus back on my goals of learning new skills as I described earlier this year. I will also continue to support Ukraine, democracy and liberal values as much as I can through actions. I hope you do too.