How too much screen time is drowning out your inner voice and what to do about it

There’s a quiet irony in how we live: our phones wake us, our watches tell us to breathe and get steps, our calendars schedule “self-care.” We crave stillness, yet we fill every gap with scrolling searching for peace through pixels.

And I’ll be the first to admit it: even when I unlock my phone to check a message, somehow my thumb drifts to Instagram before I realize it. It’s become a reflex, a small but constant pull away from presence.

Technology isn’t the enemy. It’s the noise. And that noise, when left unchecked, drowns out the whisper of intuition: that inner rhythm guiding us toward balance, clarity, and truth.

Phone with digital apps

When the noise becomes normal

Recent research confirms what many of us feel in our bones: too much screen time fragments attention, heightens stress, and dulls our sense of self. A 2024 review in BMC Public Health found that higher screen time correlates with lower well-being: more distraction, less curiosity. Another study published by JAMA Network Open showed that families who cut screen use to just three hours a week experienced measurable improvements in mood and connection.

The issue isn’t just mental; it’s energetic. Every ping, scroll, and feed refresh floods our senses with more than we’re designed to process. Our nervous system which is ancient and rhythmic starts adapting to chaos. And slowly, we forget what stillness even feels like.

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The illusion of connection

Technology connects us to the world, but it can also disconnect us from ourselves. We check messages instead of moods, notifications instead of intuition. The external world’s rhythm, algorithmic and endless, replaces the natural one that once guided our bodies and minds: the rising sun, the phases of the moon, the quiet of winter evenings.

We’re conditioned to react instead of receive. And that’s where stillness becomes an act of rebellion and of remembrance.

Stillness as a seasonal rhythm

In nature, nothing blooms year-round. Trees shed leaves. The ground freezes so new life can rest beneath it. Yet we humans, glowing screens in hand, push through every season as if we were immune to cycles.

If you live somewhere where snow has already started to fall, let this be your cue: slow down. Stillness doesn’t always mean a forest walk; sometimes, it means sitting by the window, sipping warm chai or a tea, watching the quiet dance of snowflakes, a ritual of observation instead of participation.

You don’t have to escape into nature to connect with it. You can meet it where you are: from your window, your breath, your journal.

Habit or hunger? A look at our digital reflexes

It’s easy to say “I’ll use my phone less,” but harder to realize how automatic it’s become. Neuroscientists call it habit loops: cues (a buzz or a pause in your day) trigger behaviors (scrolling), followed by rewards (dopamine hits, tiny bursts of novelty). Over time, this loop replaces deeper forms of connection with ourselves, our bodies, and even with silence. When I catch myself opening Instagram mindlessly, I’ve started asking: What am I really looking for right now? Usually, it’s not content. It’s comfort, validation, or simply a break from the constant doing.

Journal prompt to try:

When I reach for my phone, what emotion am I reaching away from?

Two ways to reconnect with your inner rhythm

1. The Nature-Within Ritual

When the weather turns cold, step into nature from within. Make tea: something earthy, grounding (ginger, tulsi, cinnamon). Sit near a window. Let the outside world become your meditation. Watch, breathe, and listen without needing to name or capture anything. Then, open your journal. Let your thoughts flow unfiltered, like snow falling quietly outside. This is your stillness practice: not withdrawal, but deep participation in the world’s slower rhythm.

2. The Tech-Intention Check-In

Technology itself isn’t the problem; unconscious use is. At the start of each day, set a digital intention. Before you unlock your phone, whisper to yourself: “What do I want from this moment?” Write that down in your journal. At night, revisit: Did I honor my intention, or did I drift?

This simple pause rewires your relationship with technology. It’s not about control — it’s about conscious engagement.

Journal Prompt to explore:

“If my devices could serve my inner rhythm instead of interrupt it, what would that look like?”

Integrating stillness into daily life

Stillness isn’t about perfection: it’s about presence. It’s the remembrance that you are part of the world around you. And even in a digital world, your inner rhythm remains faithful, waiting beneath the noise.

You don’t have to delete every app or go off-grid .Just choose one practice this week, one mindful pause, one window tea ritual, one journal entry before you scroll and let it bring you back to yourself.

Because when you honor stillness, you remember that your intuition never left. It was simply waiting for space to be heard.

If you’re ready to reconnect with your inner rhythm, explore the MulCreations Journals designed to help you slow down, listen deeply, and align with the quiet wisdom of each season.