This week I tried reaching for my RSS reader instead of social media as much as I could. I still have a phone screen time that is too high for comfort, but shifting it towards reading more intentionally and more long form was noticeably better for my mental health and overall peace.
Even if the social media I use is heavily curated (liberal use of the block button, being stingy with the follow feature, and other hygiene), my RSS feed is just slower. Each article is delivered one at a time, and there isn’t an infinite feed or several new opinions waiting for me. I can stop in the middle of a paragraph and think. I can highlight. I can take notes. My brain doesn’t like that I’ve deprived it of the dopamine fix, but it thanks me for it. Now I can breathe.