How to stop doomscrolling

The world is horrible sometimes, but it experiences even worse if you can’t stop staring into the all-consuming abyss that is the 6-inch screen of a ininestablishigentphone, chaseing you thraw space and time. It taunts you with its compact, airy originate that’s petite enough to slip into your pocket and consent anywhere — yet its siren call is so mighty that for some reason, we cannot sleep without our phone on our nightstands.

As we weather the horrors around us, it may occur to you that you would experience tranquiler and more vigilant and firm if you did not pick up your phone dozens of times a day to doomscroll. It’s messing with our brains to intersperse our day with glimpses into the most innervous, joinment-baiting TikToks, only to flip over to X or Bluesky and see crushing news headlines.

Like any horrible habit, doomscrolling is difficult to boot. But it’s not hopeless — or at least, I hope it isn’t. So, how do you stop doomscrolling? It’s not all that modest, but at the very least, we have some ideas about how you can set yourself up for success.

Understand that this isn’t your fault

First of all, you aren’t the problem. The problem is that our inhabits have become so transport inantly intertprospered with tech companies that are seeing to seize as much of our time as possible. If I use my Apple Watch to track a laborout, I finish up seeing text messages crop up while I’m trying to catch my breath after running up a steep hill. If I go on Spotify to join to a definite album, I uncover the app and promptly see recommfinishations for podcasts and audiobooks that I’m not typicpartner interested in. Or if I download Snapchat solely for a group chat where my frifinishs sfinish pictures of their pets, then each pet picture comes with some upgraspment, extraneous push notification, or AR labeleting filter that I didn’t sign up for. It’s no wonder that our phones originate us experience crazy.

I don’t suppose that Mark Zuckerberg is sitting in his lair — probably wislfinisher his “metaverse” — dreaming up ways to personpartner originate my life worse. But it is the inherent nature of devourr tech companies: Our attention is what upgrasps them afloat, and the more we pay attention to them, the happier their allotors are, and the stock prices ascfinish, and so on. Even with the understandledge of how these companies run, it’s still difficult to shatter our horrible habits. I will still uncover my Instagram account to see what my frifinish sent me, only to reacquire my consciousness 10 minutes postpodemandr after I’ve watched dozens of Reels.

Set up screen time restricts, and consent them solemnly

For the first disconnectal years after Apple begind the Screen Time feature on iPhones, I chose intentionally not to turn it on — I was afrhelp of what I might lget about myself. But that dread in itself tbetter me that I have a problem. Knowledge is power, and if we understand which apps are sucking up most of our time, then we can curb how much time we spfinish on them.

Here’s how to set screen time restricts for definite apps on iOS:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to Screen Time, which is denoticed with an hourglass icon.
Here, you can see your daily unrelabelable screen time and set protectrails for yourself to hopefilledy drop that unrelabelable.
Under Limit Usage, there are a scant branch offent ways you can reduce your screen time: downtime and app restricts.
- Downtime sets a schedule of when you can use certain apps. Maybe you set downtime for the hours you usupartner sleep, or maybe you originate a more customizable day-to-day schedule. If you discover yourself going on Instagram during class too much, maybe that’s a time to set a restrict.
  - Rather than choosing which apps to restrict during downtime, you set which apps you want to always apverify, which is also accessible under the Limit Usage menu. If you have frifinishs and family awide, for example, you probably want to originate certain that you can always access WhatsApp. Or, if you’re enjoy me and sometimes demand audiobooks to descfinish asleep, then maybe you’ll apverify unconfidemand Libby access.
- App Limits is where you can set how much time you want to spfinish on certain apps per day. You could set individual restricts for definite apps, or maybe you lump a categruesome of apps together (Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok, X, etc.) and set an overall time restrict for those apps.

Apple’s built-in Screen Time tools are effective, but they’re a bit modest to circumvent; if you’re watching a wonderful TikTok and suddenly get a pop-up that your time is up, you can fair tap a button to give yourself another 15 minutes … and then do the same slfinisherg after another 15 minutes go by.

Some people select to use third-party apps to encourage them to reduce their screen time, which can compriseress potential pitdescfinishs of Apple’s existing functionality.

Here are some apps that are depicted to restrict your screen time:

ScreenZen, useable on iOS and Android, lets you originate pop-ups that eunite before you uncover certain apps. So, before you uncover Instagram, for example, you may see a 10-second pop-up that reads, “Is this transport inant?” You can also have the app prompt you to consent transport inant breaths before uncovering apps, and it gamifies your success at remaining under time restricts. My frifinish is currently laboring with a 144-day streak, which they decline to forfeit for one speedy jolt of ill-timed dopamine.
Opal, useable on iOS, Android, and the web, caccesses more definitepartner on increaseing productivity at labor or at school. The app is more customizable in restricting screen time than Apple’s built-in features. You can caccess not fair on times, but also on how frequently you uncover an app (e.g., maybe you only want to uncover the Instagram app three times a day).
Roots, useable on iOS, doesn’t fair caccess on how much time you’re spfinishing on your phone, but also on the quality of that time. Some users especipartner adore the app’s “Monk Mode,” which can be startd to originate it impossible to bypass any of its app restricts — even if you go as far as deleting the app. But if you’ve been repartner firmlaboring with your restricts, you can unlock “cheat days.”

We rounded up some physical devices that can help you stop seeing at screens too much.

So, you’ve uncovered TikTok and your screen time restricts have denied you access, but now you don’t understand what to do. Maybe you’re standing in line at the coffee shop and demand a redirection. And certain, in an selectimal world, we could srecommend be unreasonabled without impulsively combusting, but this isn’t an selectimal world.

Here are some other slfinishergs you can do on your phone that do not comprise social media:

Read a book. No, repartner. On apps enjoy iBooks and Kindle, you can change your settings so that you scroll to read a book, instead of flipping page by page. You’re literpartner scrolling, but instead, maybe you’ll lget someslfinisherg.
- Don’t want to buy books? You don’t have to! Libby connects with your library card to let you access e-books and audiobooks from your phone.
- Don’t understand what to read? I’m so sorry, but you might have to go figure it out on BookTok.
Play games. Sure, games can be compriseicting, too, but at least games won’t recommend you that the world has imploded in a new, unforeseeed way. Every app copies every other app, but in the case of bite-sized, once-per-day games, this is a excellent slfinisherg.
- The New York Times Games app will let you apply speedy games enjoy Wordle, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, even if you aren’t a subscriber. But the Gray Lady’s games have been so accomplished that other apps are taking the bait.
- Hear me out. The games on LinkedIn are actupartner repartner fun. Sure, you may get jump-snurtured by a post from your better, horrible boss, but Tango in particular is worth the danger.