Our brains are fried.

You try to read a book...can’t focus. Sit with loved ones...your mind drifts to work or phone. Feel a buzz in your pocket....but there’s no notification.

We’re not just distracted. We’re digitally disoriented.

Here’s what’s going on and how to push back: **

Psychologists call it: Digital Dementia.

It’s the forgetfulness, lack of focus, and chronic mental fatigue caused by tech overuse.

It occurs because we’re training our brains to live in partial attention: task-switching constantly, never going deep.

Our phones aren’t just distracting us. They’re rewiring how we think, feel, and engage. **

A mountain of research confirms it:

Frequent phone use impairs working memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility.

Why? Because your brain sucks at multitasking, but your phone demands it.

The result? You’re never fully present anywhere. Always half-here, half-there. **

It gets worse. Constant task-switching activates your stress response...but with no outlet.

You feel the pressure of a hundred micro-stressors, but never get to act on or resolve them.

Over time, that buildup leads to burnout, irritability, and mental fog. **

Want to break the cycle?

1. Out of sight, out of mind.

Leaving your phone in your pocket or on silent isn’t enough.

Studies show that even someone else’s phone on the table impairs focus.

We’ve trained our brains to think that the rectangular object is the most important thing in the world.

It doesn’t just represent social media or text messages, it’s a reminder of all that we have to do and can do in the world. **

2. Don’t charge it in the bedroom.

Most people charge their phones next to their bed.

But research links nighttime phone use to poor sleep, more stress, and even depression.

Solution? Put your phone in another room.

Use an old-school alarm. Inconvenient? Sure. But your brain will thank you. **

3. Try a Digital Sabbath.

Pick a day and go device free.

At first it will feel like withdrawal. Eventually, it becomes a reset.

Studies show that even short breaks from tech (especially in nature) restore attention and cognitive function.

Live like it’s 1995...just for a day. **

4. Train for depth.

Deep reading, especially books, rebuilds attention and comprehension.

Deep conversations build connection and the capacity to sustain engagement.

But just like running, it takes consistent training.

Concentration is a muscle. Use it or lose it. **

5. Have time alone in your head without devices.

Go for a walk? You’re listening to a podcast. At a stop light? A brief moment to check that phone Standing in line? Grab the phone to resist boredom.

We’ve replaced the time when we used to be forced to be alone in our head with an instant pacifier: our phone.

No need to feel anything anymore. No need to be bored.

We need to spend more time alone in our head.

If we don’t, our inner world becomes foreign to us. **

This isn’t about becoming anti-technology. It’s about regaining agency.

It’s about intentionally creating space for deep work, deep connection, and deep thought.

The goal is to use these tools, not be used by them.

Be the master of your mind, not a servant to your notifications. **

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