The internet atelier
Recommendations to fix your attention span and get curious again as a chronically online person
Being born and growing up in the digital era is probably the primary cause of my incurable doomscrolling habits, but not entirely. Algorithms exist for a reason and that is to keep people hooked, always wanting to consume another piece of short-form content they won’t remember, always wanting to comment on a complex issue that social media oversimplifies for views. Reducing my screen time has been a struggle ever since I was gifted a smartphone and I realised I spent way too much time looking at the lives of people I didn’t know, envying things I didn’t even actually desire.
And I always thought I had to renounce the internet completely if I wanted to reclaim my freedom, but then, when I tried, I failed, because I felt like I was missing out on everything that was going on in the world. I’m aware of the interconnection I have with people, events and ideas across the globe, which I blame, again, on the digital revolution. I might risk reinforcing some stereotypes here, but, as a gen Z, it’s hard for me to imagine a life without the internet.
However, I don’t think the web or social media are necessarily evil, I believe they’re powerful instruments that no one ever taught us how to use properly, so we’ve been making attempts, failing and facing the consequences (such as a shortened attention span). This year I don’t plan on trying to quit social media or buying a dumb phone, because I know it wouldn’t work for me. My intention is to learn how to use my resources to fuel my curiosity instead of numbing my thoughts, and in this post I share some ways I’ve been doing this lately.
1. Grow a digital garden
The way I see a digital garden is a curated collection of digital media, created to encourage mindful scrolling. The internet can be a great source of inspiration for me when I’m selective with the content I consume, like the seeds I would plant in a garden. I like to keep track of the media I consume, so that I can come back to it later and make sure that I’m paying attention to what I’m watching, reading and listening to. I’ve started sharing my digital gardens on substack notes a while ago but I’ve decided to change the format. Before I would post screenshots of the media I would’ve wanted to consume and it led me to accumulate a long list of unread articles and videos I didn’t have time to watch. This year I’m sharing the pieces I actually end up consuming and what interested me the most about them, like weekly recommendations. I’ve already posted the first digital garden of 2026 on substack notes and I’m sharing the links to all of my “flowers” (and some more) at the end of this post.
2. Read instead of doomscrolling
One of my biggest struggles with doomscrolling in the past few years is that I’ve noticed I tend to spend a lot of time on my phone because it’s convenient: I don’t want to open my backpack to grab my book while I’m standing at the train station, I don’t feel like reaching for my kindle while I’m waiting for an appointment etc. So, I just grab my phone and scroll. But lately I’ve found I can easily access quality content on my phone as well, entertainment that makes me feel enriched and stimulates my curiosity. I can read instead of scrolling even if I only have my phone with me. Down below, I’ve made a list of magazines and publications I like to explore and read. I read mostly essays about culture, history and philosophy, but every now and then I like to step out of my comfort zone and read something about science as well. Most of these publications are completely free to access, some others require a subscription, but I wanted to compile a list as complete as possible.
Aeon: a digital magazine where you can find essays on a lot of different topics, from culture to philosophy, to art and science.
Psyche: connected to Aeon, is a publication dedicated to psychology and self-discovery.
The Public Domain Review: online journal which publishes public domain work, essays and art.
Literary Hub: aside from essays and literary criticism, you can also find poetry and fiction here.
The Hedgehog Review: for more essays on culture and current issues.
The Yale Review: essays, poetry and pieces from established writers.
Philosophy Now: online (and print) magazine that features philosophy and literary reviews.
Los Angeles Review of Books: reviews, essays, fiction and poetry.
JStor Daily: daily research reports in the humanities field, but also science and technology.
Byline: essays on current issues, internet discourse and fiction.
Noema: essays on philosophy, culture, technology and digital development.
The Collector: a magazine that aims to spread knowledge on the humanities outside the academia.
Emergence Magazine: essays and stories on ecology, culture and spirituality.
The New Yorker: I read mostly their essays on arts and culture.
The Paris Review: more essays, fiction and poetry.
And since we’re on Substack, I’ll also link some of my favourite substack blogs:
The Culturist: essays on literature, history and culture.
The Middling Place: literature and culture. I love the book analyses and comparisons!
marianaownroom: literature and classics.
Instead of doomscrolling: essays and media recommendations.
Milk Fed: I follow her on Youtube as well and I love her essays and video essays.
Notes under the fig tree: book recommendations and essays.
Meadow Mind: self-education and curricula.
3. Listen to podcasts when I need background noise
As much as I enjoy silence, I need some form of mental stimulation when I’m performing simple tasks like doing chores or cooking and I find that podcasts often provide that for me. My favourite podcasts lately are:
Ologies with Alie Ward: I feel like no matter what you’re curious about, you’ll find an episode for you on this podcast.
Philosophize This!: discussions on history, literature and philosophy.
In Our Time: on history, literature, philosophy and science as well.
4. Watch films, documentaries and longer videos instead of shorts and reels
One of my new year’s resolutions is to watch more films and documentaries. My knowledge of cinematography is embarrassingly limited, so I can’t really give recommendations but this year I want to try and watch a film every week or so (these will be included in my weekly digital gardens). As for videos and documentaries, I’m going to list some of my favourite youtube channels down below:
Josephine: reading vlogs and essays on art and literature.
Anna Howard: video essays on creativity, writing, literature and education.
oliSUNvia: video essays on culture and philosophy.
Lady of the library: literature analysis and book recommendations.
ArteDe: this one is in German and I use it mostly for language learning purposes but I love their documentaries on art and history.
Michelle Gia: a comfort channel with sit down talks and long vlogs.
5. Engage and create
Coming back to the title of this post, an atelier is an artist’s studio. I like to imagine mine with shelves full of books and films, with stacks of magazines and printed articles everywhere, and a beautiful typewriter. Now, I don’t own a typewriter and I don’t have an actual space for my artist’s studio but I’m treating my digital space as a personal atelier, not only curating the media I put there, but also making sure that I’m creating something. I like to think of The Archivist Journal as my shop’s window, where I display my original artwork and with this post I’ve shown you the behind the scenes, the atelier’s storage.
Thanks for reading,
𝒢. 𝒢.
Jan. 2-9 2026 | digital garden
Media I recommend this week
dearmilkfed, how to disappear completely: "That I think encompasses what it means to be an adult: it is the accumulation of unlived versions of yourself that you were told to outgrow"
Hanna H. Kim, When story loses the plot: how story-telling has changed in contemporary times and plot has lost its importance in favour of character and emotional development.
Mapu, New year’s absolutions: embracing the constant change of the self instead of planning a complete rebrand for the new year.
Philosophize This!, ep. 136: an analysis of Hannah Arendt's work explaining how the estrangement of people from politics and the birth of mass society contributed to the rise of totalitarianism.
E. Wilson, The unexpected benefits of reading at random: on the importance of diversifying the books we read, without limiting our choices only to what's popular on social media.
The nocturnal journal, Brainfood for the intellectual: how I am feeding my brain in the new year: easy ways to consume media more mindfully.
E. Dempsey, “The Voyage Out” by Virginia Woolf: a review of Virginia Woolf's debut novel and its symbolism through a feminist perspective.
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I like this new method of the digital garden! I'm looking forward to follow your recommendations
yes I love this!! back in November I started a media digest that I send out every Sunday with an compilation of the media I consumed during the week in hopes to help people discover something they wouldn’t normally seek out. I’m definitely going to follow along with yours because I know it’ll help expand my curiosity! :)