Ditching Distractions & Guilt for a Deeper Connection with Faith and Mental Health
“Life is a hailstorm of distractions. It's not the monster that stops us but the mosquito.” - Robert G. Allen
How often do you find yourself getting distracted by your phone, social media, mom guilt, interpersonal drama and other things that you categorize as “priorities” that pull you away from nurturing your faith and taking care of your mental health?
In today's society, distractions are rampant, and they can harm our connection with faith, family, and friends and lead to an increase in mental health issues.
By ditching these distractions, you can create a deeper connection with your faith and improve your mental health.
Defining the Distractions
Let’s define what is meant by “distractions.” A distraction is anything that takes your attention away from your true values. As a woman, you wear so many hats and step into multiple roles each day. Sometimes you switch hats a few times an hour! While multi-tasking can make you feel like SuperMom some days, it can also leave you feeling like life is chaos.
What keeps you rooted in your busyness and feelings of chaos? The 24-hour news cycle have created an environment where you are bombarded with constant information and stimulation. Sometimes what you see is encouraging and uplifting, but so often the news and media is filled with stories of the trauma and stressful situations others are facing and the destruction happening around the world. Did you know that this is on purpose? Studies have shown that our brain gets hits of dopamine when we see something that makes us happy, such as an uplifting news story or cute picture on social media. This dopamine hit signals to our brain that this outlet is a place that makes us feel good, and it makes us crave more. News and social media outlets know this, and display content in a manner that keeps us coming back for more.
Other distractions can include things like:
✔️ Interruptions
✔️ Texting
✔️ Television/YouTube
✔️ Saying “yes” to everything
✔️ Work projects
✔️ Staying over at work
Can you relate? Our daily lives are SO FULL
The Cost of Distraction
When you live in this constant state of busyness, you really land in a world of “multi-tasking” and in a brain space of constant craving for that next dopamine hit.
First, let’s look at multi-tasking. Neuroscience research shows that our brains don’t really multi-task. Instead, it just rapidly goes back and forward between tasks. When you get interrupted from these tasks, it takes up to 25 minutes to get back on track! More commonly, if you’re switching between devices and tasks, you lose the ability to think and process efficiently by 15%.
Friends, that’s a lot of time!
Now let’s stack mental health costs on top of the loss of effectiveness and productivity. Multi-tasking and distractions can lead to feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious. It can also make you super cranky and impatient.
Research on social media and dopamine point to some really important information. When we live in a state of constant crave, we are really looking for that hit of dopamine. Dopamine is a feel good chemical in our brain that triggers our inner reward system. Dopamine is released when we eat good food, have sex or more frighteningly when addictive drugs are taken.
The same addiction science that is used with drugs is starting to be applied to social media and our phones. Anna Lembke, MD, psychiatry professor and Chief of the Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University states, “Social media is basically a way to drugify human connection.” She goes on to state “The ‘bottomless bowl’ of social media, where we see flashing lights, rankings, and beautiful images of other people all with minimal effort makes the brain release more dopamine than it would with a typical real-life interaction.”
Wow.
Here’s the scary part: Our brains go into dopamine deficit when we take away social media (if a person is constantly on it). When we go into dopamine deficit, we feel anxious and depressed.
Ditching Distractions
The current societal norm is toxic to our relationship with friends, family, work and Jesus.
Modern society values self-reliance and independence. Ask anyone who knows us (Missy & Emily) and they will tell we both tend to like to be in control of a situation.
Society trains and encourages you to believe that you are in control of your own life, and that you should rely on yourself to solve our problems.
Indeed, God gives us free will and decent critical thinking skills, but you are constantly encouraged to “be your best self.” This constant self-improvement mindset can make it hard for us to surrender our worries to God and trust in His care, as it can feel like you are giving up control and lacking in personal development. Really, He loves you just where you are.
Here is the #1 way to ditch distractions: Use the power of your schedule to set boundaries with yourself and others. Here are some action steps to take today:
Be intentional with your time.
You are who you hang with and you will begin to think and believe in that which you invest your time. Intentionally set aside time to focus on what matters most.
I know, I know, where are you going to find time to set aside for things like devotions or a talk with your spouse or your kids when your schedule is loaded? Is there a magical wand that can add more hours to the day? No, but maybe rearranging the hours that you do have might be helpful. Listen, we are not promoting the 5am club here. Sleep is a top notch value and we need it to function properly! But maybe set your alarm five minutes early (or maybe don’t hit the snooze-button quite so many times). Or maybe trade in your before-bed scroll for a devotional.
One of our favorite places to find quick-but-thought-provoking plans is on YouVersion. Want to involve your family too? Use dinner, bed, or bath time to read a devotional together and talk about it. Another amazing way to sit with Jesus is by listening to worship music and meditating on the lyrics, letting them feed your soul as the melody washes away stress in your body.
Set boundaries.
Time is a boundary. Property is a boundary. You have the power to set your own boundaries. This means you can put down your phone, schedule tech free time, schedule exercise and devotions.
Boundaries also means saying “no” to things that clutter your life and “yes” to the things that bring you a sense of peace and love.
Seek belonging
It’s human to need and crave relationship with others. You can join communities and invest in relationship that fill you up. You need others who can provide support and encouragement as you navigate the challenges of life. Is there a group at your church or in your community that aligns with your values? Even having a small group of friends that you can share your heart with, or maybe a friend that you can text back and forth with throughout the week.
This is where social media can be helpful. Join groups that provide encouragement, inspiration, or helpful tips (like Anchored & Ambitious Women of Faith) and your feed will be filled with more positivity and provide you with new connections. Staying connected with individuals who have similar values and beliefs not only keeps us rooted in who we are, but ensures that when life goes awry, we remember we aren’t going through it alone.
Call to Action
Ditch your distractions! Cultivate a deeper a connection with your faith. Respect the need to nurture mental wellness through relationships, intentionality with time and finding community with like-minded.
