What is brain stacking and why is it going viral on social media. (instagram/mu.nisah/the_morningcrafter)A new viral trend is sweeping social media, encouraging people to unplug from their phones. It’s called ‘Brainstacking’. Thousands of users are embracing this trend and engaging in activities they love. Brainstacking encourages individuals to put down their phones and participate in a series of short, captivating activities that stimulate their minds.Posts and videos of ‘Brainstackers’ are surfacing on social media, where they reflect on how effective the trend is. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katie Garrity | Books + Mom Life (@momisbooked)Sophia, a regular brainstacker, told ABC News, “Before I started to brainstack, I would wake up in the morning and the first thing I did to wake myself up was going through my phone.” Now she has stopped doomscrolling and the start of her days now involves meditation, journaling, and reading.Also Read | Solo traveller invites strangers to birthday in Delhi, they turn up with cakes and samosasViral videos on social media include a general 20- to 30-minute brainstack that involves doing a series of timed activities. One video shows a ‘stack box’ involving activities like completing a Japanese word search, Russian journaling and reading a book in Spanish.View this post on Instagram A post shared by Logan Jaynes (@logan.e.jaynes) Another video showed a one-hour brainstacking method that included activities like reading, writing, learning something new, or solving a puzzle. View this post on Instagram A post shared by erin meryl mcgurk (@erinmerylstudy) Experts find the brainstacking method useful; however, they emphasise that brainstackers should focus more on the activity itself than on timing it.Kostadin Kushlev, associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University, told ABC that “activities like reading a book essentially demand engagement, and so having a timer of fifteen minutes before going to the next activity might feel like another chore you have to do”.Users had mixed reactions to the viral trend. One user commented, “So people need social media to tell them what to do instead of being on social media?” Another user wrote, “It’s so surreal that they record themselves doing it hahahahahahaha.”A third user took the trend in a more positive light, saying, “Just encourage it. If this is what it takes, encourage it, people.”