Are You Actually Relaxing, or Just Escaping?

It can be hard to figure out why your stress levels haven’t melted away when you’re relaxing, right? You try to relax, to unwind, to not feel tense and stressed out and the last thing you want to do is to put an effort in. So what do you turn to? A screen.

And that’s the part people don’t always clock at first. A lot of modern ‘rest’ is technically still, but mentally packed. Doomscrolling feels like doing nothing, except the brain is taking in arguments, bad news, opinions, comparisons, ads, and strangers being strange online. It’s overstimulating, actually. And sure, binge-watching can feel harmless until it’s not enjoyable anymore and the next episode is just playing because silence feels a bit too honest.

Bed-rotting can sound like rebellion against productivity culture, and yeah, sometimes lying around is needed, but it can also turn into a place to hide from the day instead of recovering from it. It should never lead to a guilt-trip, because life is tiring. Plus, people cope. But it’s worth asking the slightly uncomfortable question: is this actually rest, or is it just distraction with a whole other name to it?

Start with Why You’re Reaching for It

There’s a pretty big difference between choosing something because it helps create a calmer evening and grabbing whatever shuts the brain up the fastest. For most people, it’s going to be a screen, be it their phone, a show on Netflix, a video game on their computer, maybe shopping tabs are up, but you get the idea: most people go to a screen and rely on that to be calm.

Some people will reach out to Delta 8 & Delta 9 syrup, alcohol, and other adult-oriented products. Now, some of these are totally fine to reach out for, assuming you have no bad habits; in fact, some of these are even known to be part of a good relaxation routine. But if you’re not actually relaxing, then you still need to know your ‘why’ and why you reach out for this specifically and what could be a better alternative instead.

The goal is to unwind with intention, actually unwind rather than just have some sort of distraction until bedtime.

Doomscrolling Gives the Illusion of Switching Off

The thing about doomscrolling is that it doesn’t ask much from you physically, so it can pass as rest. You’re lying down. You’re not answering work messages. You’re not doing chores. On paper, fine. It makes sense, but again, it’s very overstimulating, there’s rage-bait, there are very distressing videos, outrage happens, comparison trap happens. It’s practically like having twenty different emotional rooms in one sitting.

No, Bedrotting isn’t Automatically Rest

Some days absolutely call for doing less. A slow day in bed can be needed, especially after a heavy week, bad sleep, too much social energy, or just too many demands stacked together. Now, with that part said, though, if bed becomes the place where everything gets avoided, messages, meals, movement, showering, decisions, feelings, then it might not be helping as much as it seems. Rest should give something back eventually.

If you are struggling to switch off and unwind, why not book a free coaching with me to talk through your options? Book here.