In this episode, Kristi explores a powerful reframe around doomscrolling—challenging the idea that it’s a self-control failure and instead viewing it as a regulation strategy. Drawing from a creator who speaks openly about ADHD and mental health, she breaks down why the brain seeks predictability, narrowing, and low emotional demand—and how scrolling provides all three.

The episode then transitions into a courtroom communication strategy focused on predictability in a different context: how giving jurors structured direction and clear signposts keeps them oriented, engaged, and less likely to go down unhelpful mental rabbit trails during voir dire.

LISTEN HERE...

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why doomscrolling may be a regulation tool—not a moral failure

2. The three things the brain seeks when overwhelmed

3. How predictability functions in self-soothing behaviors

4. Why “just put your phone down” isn’t an effective strategy

5. How curiosity can interrupt imbalanced scrolling patterns

6. The difference between vocal predictability (which disengages) and structural predictability (which anchors learning)

7. Why jurors need context statements and signposts

8. How lack of direction in voir dire can create confusion and resentment

Key Takeaway:

Predictability can either shut down engagement or strengthen it. When you understand what the brain is seeking—whether in scrolling or in the courtroom—you can create structure that supports regulation, learning, and trust.

Favorite Moment:

The reframe that doomscrolling isn’t the problem—it’s the solution your brain is reaching for.

Links & Resources:

@catieosaurus - Doomscrolling is a solution https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GHFJuQAks/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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If this episode resonated, share it with a colleague—or send it to someone who’s working on reducing their scrolling or strengthening their courtroom clarity. And if you’ve noticed patterns in your own regulation strategies, I’d love to hear what you’re discovering.

Until next week, keep fostering your voice.

TRANSCRIPT:

Helloooo! Hello Foster Fam! Welcome, welcome. I'm your host Kristi Foster and I'm glad you've joined me for another episode of the Foster Your Voice Podcast.

In these first couple months of the year, I know I've been talking about goals and habit formation, just trying to realistically move forward with the new year's resolutions that are worthy of being developed and adopted for the rest of the year. We chose some things, then "auditioned" them to see if they would or even should stick—maybe that was a "try it for 7 days" kind of thing, or maybe it was a "let's do this for the month" type of thing—either one, or something a little different, that was your audition time. Some things went by the wayside, and some habits or behaviors stuck.

One thing that I know a number of people set as their resolution or set as their goal was to eliminate DOOM SCROLLING. Is this a term that's familiar to you? If you have a phone, and if you have apps like FB, IG, X, Threads, or TikTok...you know exactly what this is. And I do too. It's when you find yourself just mindlessly scrolling through posts and reels, of people you don't know, and you watch their video, then you scroll and watch the next, then scroll and watch the next and before you know it, an HOUR has past and, you maybe wouldn't even be able to recall or recount what you watched. You just "doom scrolled." And usually, when you finally look up, you don’t feel rested. You feel foggy. Maybe even more behind than when you started.

I'm not passing judgement. I do this too. Every day I find myself in a doomscroll. So, maybe you, like me, have thought "okay, come on! This is really unproductive and is becoming a real problem."

So, I was really intrigued when, while I was doom scrolling — the irony isn't lost on me — I came across a reel where someone reframed what doomscrolling REALLY is. When she said "Doom scrolling isn't a problem, it's the solution" I knew I needed to stop my scroll and watch.

The gal is named Cate, her handle is @catieosaurus, and she started making tiktoks about her experiences living with ADHD and depression. In a little over a year, she's built an audience of over one and a half million followers, and she co-hosts a top-50 Mental Health podcast.

She opens her reel by saying that "struggling with doomscrolling doesn't mean that you have a self-control problem, or that you're lazy, or you're broken. It means that you are dealing with a lot more than maybe you even realize."

She goes on to remind us that the brain wants three things: predictability—Hold onto that word, predictability, because we’re going to come back to it later in a very different context— narrowing, and it wants something that does not require emotional processing. It is hardwired to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and expend the least amount of energy as possible. This is its motivation because this is how it keeps you alive — conserve calories and protect its assets.

This is PERFECT for doomscrolling. You know how it works, it narrows your attention — away from the rest of the word and your monster to-do list — and it doesn't require you to have an emotional interaction. You MAY feel things, but for the most part, it's just mindless scrolling, right?

This is how doomscrolling becomes part of your solution. The problem is perhaps that you're not great at noticing your body signals — maybe for hunger, water, exercise — or being able to sense when you've reached your cognitive load threshold. So, of course you would automatically look for a regulator and that's your phone. That's MY phone. It’s immediate, familiar, and doesn’t ask anything of you.

But what makes it kinda tricky is that there aren't strong parameters to scrolling. Just one more, ooh! what's that one about, oh! look at that...and before we know it and hour has gone by, or two hours. Your brain doesn't shut off, it just keeps receiving stimuli and you just consume content. It doesn't have "edges." That imbalance is what can make scrolling feel like "doom."

Cate, very helpfully explains that telling yourself, or being told "just put your phone down" is not an effective strategy. It doesn't provide a new solution to the problem. She suggests that instead, if you're wanting to break some doomscrolling patterns (And let’s be clear—maybe you don’t want to. I’m not judging that.) if you DO want to reduce the time you spend doomscrolling, Cate suggests that the better approach might be to get curious. Ask "What is my brain trying to regulate right now? What emotions, what feelings am I navigating?"

I'm putting the link to her reel in the shownotes because she goes on to offer a number of systems you can explore to help create some healthy edges for your scrolling. But the big takeaway here is that you're not a bad person, you don't have a moral failure, you're not lazy, you don't lack motivation if you find yourself in a doomscrolling cycle. You are using the tools available to you to self-regulate against all the other challenges that you have to navigate.

Doomscrolling is not the problem. It's what you're using, what I'm using, as a solution. This is valuable information and a really important reframe. And once you can see it for what it really is, it becomes so much easier to avoid imbalanced behaviors and do things differently. Once you understand what your brain is actually asking for, you stop fighting yourself—and you start making better, more compassionate choices.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Does this resonate for you, like it did for me? What are you noticing about your own doomscrolling patterns? And, which of Cate's suggested strategies do you think you'll try? Let me know. Send me an email or a DM.

—BREAK—

Today, I want to talk about something that might sound counterintuitive at first, especially if you've been listening to the podcast for awhile. This might even sound contradictory to what I usually teach. I want to encourage you to give jurors time to predict outcomes.

Now, usually I talk about the dangers of letting the brain predict, how critical it is not to get stuck in any kind of vocal pattern so that you keep the jurors' ears tantalized and their brain active & engaged. When it thinks it knows what you're going to sound like, then it thinks it knows what you're going to say and it stops listening to you. Predictability in sound shuts down curiosity.

All of that is true. 100%

BUT...

To keep jurors with you and tracking your teaching, your story, and your arguments, they NEED some predictability. They need to be able to sense the direction you're going.

Here's the thing, their brain will automatically be scanning for context and scanning for predictability. If you don't give it to them, through clear signposts and context statements, their brain will find it without you and it might not be the path you want them to tread down. They might go on a mental rabbit hole, with synapses firing, finding all the ways to relate what you're saying to their own experiences, but it might not actually have anything to do with your case.

This is particularly dangerous in jury selection. I know you can't present evidence for your case during this time, and even though it's frustrating, the jury knows you can't even really talk in much depth ABOUT the case. But you've got to give them SOMETHING.

Now, in some states, mini-openings are becoming a bit more standard. 3-5 minute overviews of what the case is about that gives the jury something to couch your voir dire questions in. That's super helpful for jurors. But at the VERY least, you need to be giving some context statements before asking your first voir dire question.

I've seen too many times, in mock juries, when a juror is kinda left to their own imagination and they THINK they know what you're going for and...they WANT to be helpful. Their heart's in the right place and they want to do a good job, but they are completely off track. And when they find out, eventually, what the case is really about, they feel betrayed. They feel stupid — kind of like not being in on the inside joke or clique. And ultimately, they feel resentful towards YOU.

"Why did you let me keep talking when it had nothing to do with what your case is about? Why didn't you correct my train of thought? You just let me keep going like an idiot. Now I have NO idea what the case is about AND I didn't contribute a damn thing."

Don't set your jurors up for feeling stupid or that they're the butt of the joke. That never feels nice and it will never serve you. Give them some time to create some predictable pathways that they can walk WITH you. THIS type of prediction will prime their brain for learning and also for retention.

Give jurors just enough structure to stay oriented, and they’ll stay with you longer, learn more deeply, and remember more of what matters.

Until next week, keep fostering your voice.